THE ARMY ON THE MARCH
It is rare in Peninsular literature to find any general descriptions
of the normal working of the military machine. In personal diaries
or reminiscences the author takes for granted a knowledge of the
daily life of the army, which was so familiar to himself, and only
makes remarks or notes when something abnormal happened. Official
documents, on the other hand, are nearly always concerned with changes
or modifications in routine. They explain and comment upon the reasons
why some particular detail of practice must be abandoned, or be more
strictly enforced, but they do not give descriptive accounts of the
whole system of which that detail is a part. A notion as to the methods
on which Wellington’s army was moved could be got together by the
comparison of a great many of his “General Orders.” But, fortunately,
we are spared much trouble in the compilation of such a sketch by the
fact that, for once, it is possible to lay one’s hand on a careful
detailed narrative of how the army marched. It is to be found in the
anonymous introduction to the second edition of _Selected General
Orders_, which Gurwood published in 1837. It was apparently not by
the editor himself, as he states in his introductory note that it
“was written, as a critique, at the suggestion of the author of a
distinguished periodical review; but being found too long and too
professional for columns usually destined to literature or politics, it
was not inserted.”[267] Since authors do not review their own books,
it is clear that this critique was written by some friend, not by
Gurwood himself. It extends to about thirty-seven pages, of which nine
are devoted to the long and interesting sketch of Wellington’s army on
the march, which is reproduced in the following paragraphs. The author,
writing for the general public, not for the professional public, tells
us precisely what we want to know.
“The orders for movement from the Commander of the Forces were
communicated by the Quarter Master General to the General Officers
commanding divisions, who detailed them, through their Assistant
Quarter Master Generals, to the Generals of brigades, who gave them out
immediately to the battalions of their brigades, through the Brigade
Majors. The drum, the bugle and the trumpet sounded the preparation
for the march at a certain hour, generally one hour and a half before
daylight, in order that the several battalions might be assembled on
the brigade alarm-posts, so as to be ready to march off from the ground
precisely at daylight. It must be observed that the alarm-post is the
place of assembly in the event of alarm; it was generally, and should
always be, the place of parade.
“It is singular to refer to these orders to see how a division of 6000
men, and so on in any proportion, rolled up in their blankets ‘in
the arms of Murphy,’ were all dressed, with blankets rolled, packed,
equipped, squadded, paraded in companies, told off in subdivisions,
sections, and sections of threes, marched by companies to the
regimental alarm-posts, and finally to that of the brigade, formed in
close columns, all by sounds as familiar to the soldier as the clock at
the Horse Guards to a corporal of the Blues. Guns were paraded, baggage
packed and loaded, Commissariat mules with the reserve biscuit, the
Storekeeper with the spare ammunition-bullocks placed under charge, all
assembled with the same precision and order, ready to march off under
the direction of the Assistant Quarter Master General attached to the
division or corps, who had previously assembled the guides, whom he
attached to the column or columns directed to be marched to the points
or towns named in the Quarter Master General’s instructions. In the
mean time the formidable Provost Marshal attached to the division made
his patrols.
[Sidenote: Starting the March]
“The report of ‘All Present’ being made in succession by the Brigade
Majors to the Assistant Adjutant General, and by him to the General
commanding the column, the word ‘By sections of threes, march,’ was
given, from the right or left, as directed in the Quarter Master
General’s instructions, the whole being formed either right or
left in front, according to the views of the General in command of
the army. The advanced guard of the column was then formed under
the superintendence of the Brigade Major of the Brigade, right or
left in front. This advanced guard consisted of one company of
varying strength. The whole was marched off at sloped arms, with the
greatest precision and regularity, and remained in that order until
the word ‘March at ease’ was given to the leading battalion, which
was successively taken up by the others in the rear. The women, in
detached parties, either preceded the column or followed it—none were
permitted to accompany it; they generally remained with the baggage,
excepting when their finances enabled them to make little speculations
in bread and _comfort_ in the villages or towns in the neighbourhood
of the line of march. The Assistant Provost Marshal with his guard
and delinquents brought up the rear of the column, followed by the
rear guard, under an officer who took up all the stragglers, whom he
lodged in the main guard on his arrival, where those who had received
tickets of permission to fall out were directed to join their corps,
non-commissioned officers being in waiting to receive them.
“The first halt was generally made at the expiration of half an hour
from the departure, and afterwards once an hour; each halt lasted at
least five minutes after the men had piled their arms; this might vary
a little, as the weather, distance, or other circumstances of the
march might point out. The object of halting was for the purpose of
allowing those who had fallen out to rejoin their companies, which,
excepting in cases of sickness, usually occurred; as a man wanting to
fall out was obliged to obtain a ticket from the officer commanding his
company so to do, and to leave his pack and his firelock to be carried
by his comrades of his section of threes; he therefore lost no time
to return to his rank, and give back his ticket. This first halt was
generally passed in eating a piece of bread or meat set aside for the
march—arranging the accoutrements, pack, haversack, and canteen, so as
to sit well—in jokes about the last night’s quarters or bivouac, or in
the anticipations of the next. At the expiration of the halt the drum
or bugle sounded the ‘Fall-in,’ and, by word of command, the leading
battalion proceeded in the same order as in the beginning of the march;
the other battalions following in succession, always with music; then
‘March at ease’ as before; but when the word ‘Attention’ was given, the
whole sloped arms and marched in the same order as at a field-day; this
was always done in formations previous to the halt.
“When the army was not near the enemy, two officers preceded each
battalion on its march, one of them twenty-four hours before the
battalion, and, on his arrival at the station pointed out, received the
necessary information from the Assistant Quarter Master General. The
other officer marched the same day in charge of the camp-colour men of
each company, so as to arrive early, and take over the quarters from
the officer who went on the day before.
[Sidenote: Distribution of Billets]
“The Deputy Assistant Quarter Master General always preceded these
officers, to make arrangements with the magistrates as to quarters: and
the town was parcelled out by him, in proportion to the strength of the
several battalions or corps, to their respective officers; they divided
it according to their judgment to the ten orderlies, who chalked on the
doors the letter of the company and number of men to occupy, as also
the officers’ quarters, which invariably were in the quarters of the
company. The officer first marked off the quarters of the Commanding
Officer, staff, orderly-room, guard-room, Quarter Master’s stores, all
in the most central position in the quarters of the regiment. The first
officer then proceeded to the next station; the second officer and the
ten orderlies proceeded to the road by which the troops were to arrive,
and accompanied them to the alarm-post fixed for them: which spot the
Assistant Quarter Master General, under the direction of the General
in command, had pointed out, either in front or in rear of the town.
Here they halted in column, as also assembled the following morning,
or at any other time that the alarm or assembly might be sounded. The
brigades, the battalions, and the companies each had their respective
alarm-posts or places of formation in the most central parts of their
quarters. The officers commanding companies then put their men up,
and made reports to the Officer Commanding as to the accommodation,
or the want of it, the officers commanding battalions to those
commanding brigades, and the Generals of Brigades to the General of the
Division. The Assistant Quarter Master General was always ready to be
appealed to, in case of a battalion being crowded, to afford further
accommodation, as there was generally some building or street reserved
in a central position for this purpose, or in the event of detachments
of other corps arriving.
“When the column was to bivouac in huts, or, as afterwards, encamp
in tents, there occurred less difficulty. On arrival on the position
pointed out in the Quarter Master General’s instructions, the General
commanding chose what he considered the most favourable ground in
accordance with needs as to front, communications with his flanks
and rear, reference to wood and water, and the health of the ground,
avoiding proximity to marshes, where the night damps might affect
the troops. The Assistant Quarter Master General disposed of this
ground to the several officers sent on in advance by the battalions
for that purpose, as before described in quarters. The General then
proceeded to the front, and indicated where he wished his advanced
piquets to be posted, to be in communication with the outposts of the
cavalry in front, or, if there were none, to cover all the approaches
with detached posts and sentries, so that nothing should be able to
arrive by any of them without being seen and stopped; or if patrols
or other movements of the enemy should take place, either by night or
day, that the same might be made known by the chain of sentries to the
detached posts and outlying piquets, and communicated to the main body,
if thought necessary, by the Field Officer of the outlying piquets.
Preconcerted signals of setting fire to beacons, or a certain number of
musket shots fired, communicated the alarm more quickly, and allowed
the troops more time to get under arms, until the precise cause of the
alarm was ascertained.
“The division having arrived on its ground, the outlying piquets
were immediately marched off to take the covering of the front just
described. The temporary division-hospital, and the Commissariat
magazines, being pointed out to the Commanding Officers, Surgeons,
and Quarter Masters, the brigades and battalions proceeded to their
respective alarm-posts and ground for the encampment or bivouac,
accompanied by the officers and the camp-colour men as before stated.
The quarter and rear guards were then mounted, to be relieved always
in two hours afterwards by fresh troops. The sentries from the quarter
guards watched the communications to the front, and to the detached
posts between the camp and the outlying piquets, to communicate alarm
if announced in any manner from the front.
[Sidenote: Tents and Huts]
“If the troops were to encamp, the tent mules, which always immediately
followed the column, under charge of an officer, preceding all other
baggage, were unloaded, and the company’s tents pitched in column on
the alignment given to the battalion, brigade, and division.
“If there were no tents, then the bill-hooks came speedily into play:
regular squads were formed for cutting branches, others for drawing
them to the lines, and others as the architects for constructing
the huts: this was an amusement more than a duty, and it was quite
wonderful to see how speedily every one was under cover. It was the
pride of each company that their officers’ huts should be the first and
the best built. The soldier became quite re-invigorated by the mere act
of piling arms, getting off his accoutrements, pack, haversack, and
other incumbrances, which weigh generally about sixty pounds, and set
to work in right earnest at the hut-building. Although the huts were
not quite so speedily erected, or pitched with the same regularity,
as the tents, yet still the order and alignment were preserved when
the ground permitted. This might not have been essential, yet still no
opportunity should be allowed to escape in inculcating the habit of
order and regularity in whatever is done by the soldier; and, however
simple the act, it should be impressed on his mind, that what is
ordered is the easiest, and that what is his duty is his interest.
“The regular fatigue parties for bread, meat, and spirits were
regularly told off and warned, before the companies were dismissed to
pitch tents or build huts. These parties consisted generally of two or
three men per company, under a corporal, for each particular article
of provisions, to be ready to turn out when that article was called at
the quarter guard. A company’s guard or watch, of a corporal and four
privates, furnishing one sentry with side arms only, always remained in
the lines of the company to repeat communications and preserve order.
“The Commanding Officers made their reports through the Majors of
brigade, that their respective battalions had received bread, meat,
spirits, and forage, specifying the number of days for each; that they
had marched off one or more companies, of such and such strength, for
the outlying piquets, to the posts directed under the orders of the
Field Officer of the outlying piquets; and that the orderlies who had
accompanied them had returned, knowing where to find them. The outlying
piquets were under the Field Officer of the day, who again received his
instructions from the Assistant Adjutant General of the division. The
Commanding Officers at the same time reported the force of the company
or inlying piquet, which were ready to turn out to support the outlying
piquet in the event of being required, and were under the Field Officer
of the day of the inlying piquets, and kept on their accoutrements,
although in other respects, like the remaining companies, not on duty,
and in their tents or huts. The company on inlying piquet, as also the
Field Officer of the day in charge of the whole of the companies of the
brigade, were always first for the outlying piquet.
“All particular duties were taken by companies, under their own
officers, and not by the old way of individual roster of so many men
per company; such were the company for outlying piquet; the company
for inlying piquet, which gave the quarter and rear guards within the
lines; the first company for general fatigue, from which the Quarter
Master’s fatigues were taken for ammunition, equipment, working
parties, and all other fatigues, excepting rations; all these duties
were taken by the roster of companies.
[Sidenote: On Drawing Rations]
“The issue of rations was regulated by the Quarter Master and
Commissariat, agreeably to the instructions of the General commanding
the division or brigade, communicated in orders to the battalions,
and was done regimentally by individuals from all the companies, and
not by the company on general fatigue. On the issue of any article,
such as bread, meat, wine, or forage, the fatigue parties from each
company, as before described, were summoned from the quarter guard
by the Quarter Master, who called out the watch in the lines of each
company; those previously warned for each article turned out under
their respective non-commissioned officers, and assembled under the
officer of the inlying piquet named in the orders at the quarter guard.
He then proceeded with the Quarter Master or Quarter Master Sergeant
to the place of issue; after the delivery he returned to the quarter
guard, reported to the Captain of the Day, who was the captain of the
inlying piquet, the regularity or irregularity of the particular issue
under his superintendence, and then dismissed the parties under their
several non-commissioned officers to their respective companies, where
the delivery was immediately made under the orderly Officer of each
company. The same routine took place when in quarters; and, although
the recapitulation may appear tedious, still the whole was performed
with a celerity which leaves more time to the soldier when in camp than
in any other situation.
“At an appointed hour the sick reports were gathered from the
companies, and the men paraded for the inspection of the Surgeon;
he reported to the Staff Surgeon, who, in his turn, reported to
the General commanding the division, sending his own report to the
Inspector General of Hospitals.
“The General commanding the division made his reports to the Adjutant
and Quarter Master Generals for the information of the Commander of the
Forces, according to the importance of the report and the circumstances
of the moment.
“When before the enemy, the issue of the provisions and the cooking
were attended to with every consideration to the position of things,
so that what was to be done should be done with speed as well as
precaution; for it would be bad management to throw away the soup
before it was well made, or swallow it boiling hot, in case of
interruption, and still worse to leave it to the enemy. All this is
sufficiently dwelt upon in the Duke’s ‘Circular Letter,’ and in the
admirable orders of General Robert Craufurd, from whence the greater
part of the foregoing details were learned and proved in the field.[268]
“The new tin camp-kettle, carried alternately by the men of each
squad, was a great improvement upon the old Flanders iron cauldron,
which required a whole tree, or the half of a church door, to make it
boil; and which, being carried on the camp-kettle mule (afterwards
appropriated to carry the tents), only arrived with the baggage. This
improvement, as the Duke truly observed in his ‘October Minute,’ left
much valuable time disposable for other purposes. It is to be hoped
that in any future wars some improvement will also take place in the
weight and temper of the old bill-hook, which, in the early part of
the Peninsular War, was immoderately heavy, and had edges which, on
attempting to cut any wood not absolutely green, bent like lead: many
of the men threw these away, but the more prudent _exchanged_ them for
the lighter and better tempered bill-hook used by the Portuguese in
their vineyards, exchange being no robbery with our fellows.
[Sidenote: The Miseries of Wet Weather]
“In the camp or bivouac, in fine weather, all went on merrily, but
there came moments of which the mere remembrance even now recalls
ancient twitches of rheumatism, which the iron frame of the most hardy
could not always resist. On the night previous to General Craufurd’s
affair on the Coa, on those previous to the battle of Salamanca and the
battle of Waterloo, and on many other less anxious nights, not hallowed
by such recollections, deluges of rain not only drenched the earth, but
unfortunately all that rested or tried to rest upon it; the draining
through the hut from above by some ill-placed sticks in the roof, like
lightning conductors, conveyed the subtle fluid where it was the least
wanted; while the floods coursing under, drove away all possibility
of sleep: repose was, of course, out of the question, when even the
worms would come out of the earth, it being far too wet for them. ‘In
such a night as this’ it was weary work to await the lagging dawn with
a craving stomach; and, worse still, to find nothing but a bellyful
of bullets for breakfast. But, on the Pyrenees, in the more fortunate
and healthy days of tents, it was not unusual, when the mountain blast
and torrents of rain drew up the pegs of the tents, for them to fall,
as nothing in nature falls, squash on the soldier, who lay enveloped
and floundering in the horrible wet folds of canvas. Then nothing but
the passing joke ‘Boat a-hoy!’ or the roars of laughter caused by some
wag, who made this acme of misery into mirth, could re-animate to the
exertion of scrambling out of these clammy winding-sheets. These are
recollections, however, which, notwithstanding the sufferings in the
experience of them, and their legacies of rheumatism, still afford
pleasurable feelings to the old soldier, now laid up by his Christmas
fireside.”
To this long and lively description by an anonymous Peninsular veteran
(probably from the Light Division) of the way in which Wellington’s
army moved, we need only add a few words by way of caution and
supplement. The smoothly-working regularity which it described could
not always be secured in actual practice. There were marches where
the system could not be carried out, by reason of hurry, unexpected
changes of direction, and the vagaries of the weather. When some
sudden movement of the French forced the Duke to throw his army on a
route that he had not intended to take, the elaborate provision of
officers going before to act as harbingers could not be carried out.
When a division halted, late at night, at some unforeseen destination,
there could be neither the selection of billets, nor (in the open
field) the erection of huts described above. All had to be done more
or less haphazard in the dark. In hot or stormy weather stragglers
were numerous, and the “ticket” routine broke down altogether. The
description above will do for long orderly movements like the advance
on Madrid in 1812, or the march to Vittoria, in 1813, but it fails to
reproduce the impression of confusion and misery caused by the perusal
of any good narrative of the Burgos retreat, or of the disorder in
the hasty marches to intercept Soult on the eve of the battles of
the Pyrenees. A quotation from a diarist in the ranks,[269] giving a
picture of the first-named march may suffice to give the reverse of
the shield.
[Sidenote: The Retreat from Burgos]
“Retreating before the enemy at any time is a grievous business, but
in such weather as that of November, 1812, it was doubly so. The rain
pouring down in torrents drenched us to the skin, the road, composed
of clay soil, stuck to our shoes so fast that they were torn off our
feet. The nights were dismally dark, the cold winds blew in heavy
gusts, and the roads became gradually worse. After marching in this
state for hours, we halted in a field by the roadside, piled our arms,
and were allowed to dispose of ourselves as we best could. The moon,
wading through dense masses of clouds, sometimes threw a momentary
gleam on the miserable beings huddled together in every variety of
posture, and trying to rest or to screen themselves from the cold. Some
were lying on the wet ground rolled in wetter blankets, some placed
their knapsack on a stone, and sat on it, with their blankets wrapped
about them, their heads resting on their knees, their teeth chattering
with cold. Long before daylight we were again ordered to fall in, and
proceeded on our retreat. The rain still continued to fall, the roads
were now knee-deep in mud. Many men got fatigued and could not follow:
the spring waggons could not hold them all; they dropped behind to
fall into the hands of the French cavalry. By some mismanagement the
commissary stores had been sent on ahead with the baggage, toward
Rodrigo, and we were without food. The feeling of hunger was very
severe: some oxen that had remained with the division were killed and
served out to us, but our attempts to kindle cooking fires with wet
wood were abortive. Sometimes we just managed to raise a smoke, and
numbers would gather round a fire, which then would go out, in spite of
their efforts.
“A savage sort of desperation took possession of our minds: those
who lived on most friendly terms with each other in better times now
quarrelled with each other, using the most frightful imprecations on
the slightest offence. A misanthropic spirit took possession of every
breast. The streams from the hills were swollen into rivers, which we
had to wade, and vast numbers fell out, among them even officers. It
was piteous to see the men, who had long dragged their limbs after
them with a determined spirit, finally fall down in the mud unable to
proceed further. The despairing looks that they gave us, when they saw
us pass on, would have pierced the heart at any other time; but our
feelings were steeled, and we had no power to assist, even had we felt
the inclination.
“At last the rain somewhat abated, but the cold was excessive: at
the nightly halt many men threw themselves down in the mud, praying
for death to relieve them from their misery. And some prayed not in
vain, for next morning, starting in the dark, we stumbled over several
who had died in the night. Setting my foot inadvertently on one, I
stooped down to feel, and I shall never forget the sickening thrill
that went to my heart, as my hand touched his cold, clammy face. This
day we halted earlier than usual, and the weather being clearer, got
fires lighted; but there was nothing to eat save acorns from a wood in
which we encamped—we greedily devoured them, though they were nauseous
in the extreme. Next day’s sufferings were of the same nature—only
more aggravated, till at last we neared Rodrigo in the dark, halted,
and heard at last the well-known summons of ‘Turn out for biscuit,’
ring in our ears. We had got to food at last. Instead of the usual
orderly division each man seized what he could get, and began to allay
the dreadful gnawing pain which had tormented us for four days of
unexampled cold and fatigue.”