the 23rd Welsh Fusiliers immortalised themselves in that bloodiest of
all battles, where in four hours no less than 15,000 men were placed
_hors de combat_. Well might M. Thiers say that "a sort of fatality
rendered the heroic bravery of our troops powerless against the cold
courage of the English." The 23rd lost 347 men, 80 killed, and 257
wounded and missing, and it is noteworthy that one company was brought
out of action by a corporal. The 29th mustered only 2 captains and
about 100 junior officers and men; the 57th was little better off,
likewise the 48th when the French were driven across the Albuera River.
Of the 7,000 British soldiers engaged, 4,300 were killed or wounded;
the dead included Major-General Houghton, who was killed while leading
his division, 33 officers, 33 sergeants, and 917 men. The Spanish and
Portuguese allies lost about 2,000 men killed or wounded, and as the
allied army consisted of about 34,000 men, the brunt of the fighting
was borne by the British troops. The French, who numbered about
33,000, lost about 1,000 more men than the British, including 5 of
their General Officers killed or wounded; 2,000 dead and 800 of their
worst wounded were left on the field when the French drew off, leaving
the British uncertain as to what the morrow might bring forth, but
reinforcements coming for the British, Soult moved off in the direction
of Badajoz, followed by Beresford.
The following regiments took part in the battle: 3rd Dragoon Guards;
4th Dragoons; 13th Light Dragoons; 1st, 3rd Foot (the "Buffs");
1st and 2nd 7th (Royal Fusiliers); 1st 23rd (Welsh Fusiliers); 1st
27th Inniskillings; 2nd 28th; 29th; 2nd 31st; 2nd 34th; 2nd 39th
(Dorsetshire); 1st 40th; 1st and 2nd 48th (Northamptonshire); 1st
57th (West Middlesex); 1st and 2nd 60th and four companies of the 5th
Battalion; 2nd 66th (Berkshire); 97th Queen's Own; 1st and 2nd Light
Battalions of the King's German Legion, and one company of Brunswick
Oels.
=Java.=--The capture of the East Indian island of Java, which the
Dutch called the most precious jewel in their diadem, was effected
after operations lasting from July 27th, 1811, when Lieutenant Edmund
Lyons--after Admiral Lyons--made a daring landing with a few seamen,
until August 26th, ten days after the battle fought at Serondel near
Samarang. During this expedition the storming of Fort Cornelis took
place, when the enemy lost 1,000 killed; and three Brigadiers, 30
Field Officers, 70 Captains, 140 Subalterns, and 5,000 rank and file
prisoners; 400 cannons were captured. A million sterling was received
by the British force as prize money. The British loss (naval and
military) was 150 killed, 788 wounded, and 16 missing. By the Treaty of
Vienna Java was restored to the Dutch in 1814.
=H.E.I. Co.'s Java Medal.=--A medal, 1·9 in. in diameter, was awarded
by the Honourable East India Company to the sepoys who took part in the
expedition. On the reverse is depicted the attack upon Fort Cornelis,
with a British flag flying above the Dutch, and above all CORNELIS. The
following is inscribed in Persian upon the reverse: "This medal was
conferred in commemoration of the bravery and courage displayed by the
sepoys of the English company, in the capture of the Kingdom of Java in
the year of the Hegira 1228." "Java conquered XXVI August MDCCCXI." 133
gold and 6,519 silver medals of this type were struck.
King George III conferred gold medals upon the officers engaged, and
when the Naval and the Military General Service Medals were awarded,
the surviving participants in the capture received a medal with bar
inscribed JAVA. Four distinct medals were issued for this expedition.
The military present at the capture of Java were the 14th (now West
Yorkshire Regiment), 59th (now 2nd East Lancashire Regiment), 69th (now
2nd Welsh Regiment), 78th Highland Regiment (now 2nd Seaforths), 89th
(now Royal Irish Fusiliers), Bengal Volunteers and sepoys of "John
Company."
=Ciudad Rodrigo.=--The siege of Ciudad Rodrigo followed the "soldiers'
battle" of Albuera. The army, after considerable manœuvring, marching,
and countermarching, besieged Ciudad Rodrigo, which, together with the
siege of Badajos, had to be undertaken before Wellington's plan of
campaign could be carried out. On January 1st, 1812, the order for the
siege of the fortress was suddenly issued, but some days elapsed before
the order could be put into execution, owing to the inclement weather,
snowstorms preventing any possibility of operations. On the 8th the
investment of the fortress was commenced, and the earth redoubt of
Teson Grande stormed and taken by Colonel Colborne with three companies
of the 52nd Regiment. On the 13th the Convent of Santa Cruz, one of
the two convents which had been fortified by the French, was stormed
and carried by the light companies of the brigade of Guards, and on
the night between the 14th and 15th the 40th Regiment escaladed and
carried the fortified San Francisco Convent. Meanwhile preparations
had been progressing for the general assault, which took place on the
night of January 19th. Wellington had written in his orders "Ciudad
must be stormed this evening," and the order was carried out in a
brilliant manner, but alas! two British Generals were killed, General
Crauford being mortally wounded whilst leading the light division,
and General Mackinnon killed on reaching the ramparts of the greater
breach. In this assault General Picton adjured the Connaught Rangers,
who passed with the forlorn hope to storm the breach, to "spare powder
and trust to cold iron," and it was by the use of the bayonet that the
43rd and 95th drove the French from the "fausse braye." The city was
taken after a siege lasting twelve days, but the troops "committed
frightful excesses," which some have condoned as a prescriptive
right which successful besiegers may enjoy. The British losses were
9 officers and 217 rank and file killed, 84 officers--including
Major-General Vandeleur and Major (afterwards Sir George) Napier, who
lost an arm--and 1,000 men wounded. For the successful issue to his
generalship, Wellington received the patent of an earl, and was made a
Spanish duke, the British Government increasing his annuity to £4,000
per annum.
The regiments engaged in the siege were the 2nd Foot Guards (the
Coldstreams); 3rd Foot Guards (Scots Guards); 5th, 7th, 24th, 30th,
40th, 42nd, 43rd, 45th, 48th, 52nd, 60th, 74th, 77th, 83rd, 88th, 94th,
97th, and the Rifle Brigade.
=Siege of Badajoz.=--Before bringing to a successful issue the siege
of Ciudad Rodrigo, Wellington had been busily engaged in preparing
for the third siege of Badajoz. On March 16th, 1812, it was invested,
but the weather for some time was particularly unfavourable to the
besiegers, rain falling in torrents so that the men in the trenches
were knee-deep in mud and water. By March 23rd, however, the weather
had improved, and the ground was in better condition for placing the
guns, which by the 25th were in position at Picurina, the place being
taken by storm on that day. On the 26th breaching batteries opened
fire on the city, and by April 6th it was deemed possible to storm
the castle by escalade, Picton's division being ordered to do so. The
bastion of La Trinidad was to be stormed by Colville's division, and
the Santa Maria by the light division under Colonel Barnard, while
the lunette of San Rocque was to be carried by the 48th under Major
Wilson. At 10 o'clock at night the attack was made: General Kempts,
leading his brigade to the foot of the castle, was there wounded, but,
his men dashing on, the castle was won in an hour and a half. "At the
breaches the tumult was such as if the earth had been rent asunder ...
the carnage was frightful. It is doubtful whether, since the invention
of gunpowder, any mass of men had ever been more fearfully exposed to
all its murderous power. The dying were piled upon the dead in mounds,
which the living could not pass; and the French soldiers, undisturbed
in their avocation, raised the deriding cry _'Vive l'Empéreur!'_"
By midnight 2,000 men had fallen outside the city, and Wellington
ordered the troops to withdraw; but this was as impossible as to go
forward. Meanwhile some of the 5th division had entered the town (the
4th Regiment being in first), which by 6 o'clock the next morning was
surrendered by the Governor. The besiegers lost 131 officers and 1,707
rank and file killed, and 564 officers and 6,083 men wounded. Napier
states that "when the havoc of the night was told to Wellington, the
pride of conquest sunk into a passionate burst of grief for the loss of
his gallant soldiers," for in the assault alone the British casualties
were 59 officers and 744 men killed, and 258 officers and 2,600 rank
and file wounded. No wonder one of the Connaught Rangers exclaimed with
an oath, "Och! Boys, Soudradrodrago was but a flay-bite to this." The
43rd Monmouth Light Infantry lost more men than any other regiment;
20 officers, including its chief, Colonel M'Leod (who was only
twenty-seven), 335 sergeants and privates killed and wounded. Alas! the
Saturnalia of Ciudad Rodrigo was repeated, and the disciplined men who
had fought with such valour gave way to demoniacal passions which we
of to-day can scarce believe. The indignity of the threatened gallows
was the only way in which Wellington could curb his men, but not before
several of the worst plunderers had been executed.
[Illustration: PENINSULAR GOLD CROSS.]
[Illustration: PENINSULAR GOLD MEDAL WITH BARS.]
The following regiments were engaged at the siege and storming of
Badajoz: 2nd Foot Guards; 1st, 4th, 5th, 7th, 23rd, 24th, 30th, 38th,
40th, 43rd, 44th, 45th, 48th, 52nd, 60th, 74th, 77th, 83rd, 85th, 88th,
94th, and 95th Regiments, the Rifle Brigade, and the 13th and 14th
Light Dragoons.
=Salamanca.=--The battle of Salamanca, fought on Sunday, July 22nd,
1812, is noteworthy as the first general action in the Peninsular
War in which Wellington attacked; his decision was due to Marmont
making a sudden movement which threatened to cut the British lines of
communication with Portugal, but although the position appeared to
be a critical one for the British General, he turned to the Spanish
General Alva and said, "Mon cher Alva, Marmont est perdu!" In this
battle the 3rd division, under Major-General Pakenham, were the first
in action, and brilliantly carried everything before them. In this
division were the Connaught Rangers, who, incensed by the death of
a favourite officer, Major Murphy, could hardly be kept in hand.
General Pakenham, noticing their impatience, ordered them to "be let
loose," when they charged with an impetuosity which nothing could
withstand, and together with the 45th and 74th broke through the
masses of infantry, bayoneting all they could overtake. Composed of
such material, no wonder the 3rd was called "the fighting division."
It took just forty minutes to defeat Marmont's left wing, which in his
endeavour to close the Ciudad road had got separated from the right,
and into the gap made thereby Wellington poured his men. The right,
however, reinforced by those who had escaped the conflict on the left,
made a very determined resistance, and the shades of evening were
falling ere the enemy made a last brave effort to retrieve the day,
and, indeed, appeared to be on the way to doing so when Wellington
ordered Clinton's division, numbering 6,000 bayonets, to advance,
which, after a furious struggle, compelled the French to give way in
confusion. Night had set in, and the remnants of Bonnet's division,
which Clinton had put to rout, had the good fortune to find a means of
escape through the abandonment of the ford of Alba de Tormes by the
Spaniards. For six hours the battle of Salamanca raged with unabated
fury, and with varying fortune on the right, so that the divisions
which had been actively engaged, on an exceedingly hot day, were
glad to bivouac on the ground where they had fought a battle, which
again demonstrated the brilliant commandership and the keen, quick
eye with which Wellington detected an opportunity when it offered.
Salamanca was, in the opinion of experts, the most skilful of any of
his victories, though the mistakes which Marmont made would have been
obvious to men of lesser capacity. A decisive battle, it would have
proved much more fatal to the French had darkness not precluded the
possibility of any considerable effort at pursuit on the part of the
victors. As it was, however, Wellington pressed the retreating French
to the ford of Huerta, and ordered the cavalry to follow the fugitives;
continually pressing on the rear, Wellington forced his way on to the
romantic city of Valladolid, which he entered in triumph on July 31st.
On August 12th he entered Madrid, to the plaudits of the people, who
hailed him as the deliverer of their country.
In this battle the allies' losses exceeded 5,000. The British lost
General Le Marchant, who was killed while leading a brilliant and
successful charge of the heavy brigade, 24 officers, and 686 rank and
file killed. Field-Marshal Beresford, Lieutenant-Generals Cotton, Cole,
Leith, and Major-General Allen were wounded, besides 182 officers of
inferior rank; 4,270 of the rank and file were wounded. The Portuguese
lost about 304 killed and 1,552 wounded; the Spaniards lost--4! The
French, who had at the battle about 42,000 men and 74 guns, lost about
7,000 men, besides Generals Desgraviers, Ferrey, and Thormières killed.
Marmont, the Commander-in-Chief, was badly wounded early in the action
by a shell; Bonnet was severely wounded, and Clausel, who commanded
after the disablement of Marmont and Bonnet, slightly; 130 officers
and 7,000 men were taken prisoners, and 2 Eagles, 6 standards, and 11
pieces of artillery were captured by the victors.
Essentially a General's victory, with exceedingly far-reaching
consequences, Wellington was rewarded with a marquisate, an
augmentation of his coat-of-arms to commemorate his services, and
a grant of £100,000 to maintain the dignity of his rank; while the
Spanish Regency presented him with the Order of the Golden Fleece. The
vanquished Marmont, Duke of Ragusa, on the other hand, was told by
Napoleon that he had "sacrificed to vanity the glory of the country,
and the good of my service."
The following regiments were present at Salamanca, although some were
in reserve: 2nd and 3rd Foot Guards; 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th,
11th, 23rd, 24th, 27th, 30th, 32nd, 36th, 38th, 40th, 42nd, 43rd, 44th,
45th, 48th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 58th, 60th, 61st, 68th, 74th, 79th,
83rd, 88th, 94th, and 95th Regiments; artillery and Rifle Brigade;
5th Dragoon Guards; 3rd, 4th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th, and 16th Light
Dragoons. The King's German Legion was represented by the 1st Hussars;
1st and 2nd Light Battalions; 1st, 2nd, and 5th Line Battalions.
=Fort Detroit.=--From that unfortunate day in 1773, when the youth
of Boston boarded the ships and cast the cargoes of tea into the
sea, until the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, the relations
between the English-speaking peoples were continuously strained; the
centenary of that auspicious day, and the happy continuance of peace,
we celebrate this year. With the events which led up to the outbreak
of hostilities I am not here concerned, my province being merely to
record such facts as will help in the appraisement of the intrinsic,
historical, or sentimental value of medals awarded to those who have
carried the burden of war. The capture of Fort Detroit was an episode
which followed the declaration of war by the American Senate on June
18th, 1812. Early in July 2,500 Americans, under General Hull, crossed
the Detroit and invaded Upper Canada, but, opposed by about 1,330
Canadian militia and regulars under Major-General Brock, they were
forced back to Fort Detroit, on the American side of the St. Laurence,
which Brock proceeded to invest, but having constructed his batteries
and opened fire, before making the assault he sent his aide-de-camp to
summon the United States General to obviate bloodshed by surrendering.
This he did on August 16th.
[Illustration: Knight's Badge, Military Order of San Fernando.]
[Illustration: M.G.S. Medal.]
[Illustration: Officer's Gold Cross for Peninsular.]
[Illustration: King John VI's Jewelled Badge, for Special Service.]
[Illustration: Knight's Badge, Order of the Tower and Sword.]
[Illustration: Badge and Star (Knight Commander's) of the Order of St.
Bento d'Aviz.]
[Illustration: Officer's Badge, Order of the Tower and Sword.]
[Illustration: GROUP OF NINE DECORATIONS AWARDED TO LIEUTENANT-COLONEL
SIR EDWARD BRACKENBURY, K.B.A., K.T.S., K.F.]
The regulars represented in this affair were 30 Royal Artillerymen,
about 250 men of the 41st (the Welsh Regiment), which, together with
its linked battalion, the 69th, bears DETROIT on its colours; 50 of the
Royal Newfoundland Regiment; 400 Canadian militiamen, and 600 Indians.
=Vittoria.=--Following the abortive siege of Burgos, September 19th,
1813, Wellington retired to Frenada and Coria on the frontiers of
Portugal, and went into winter quarters to await reinforcements.
They having arrived, and the army being well equipped and in a good
disciplinary spirit, he commenced the second part of the Peninsular
campaign, which was destined to be a series of successes for the
British commander, who commenced the final campaign in May 1813, by
bidding adieu to Portugal, and marching into Spain with 70,000 men. He
swept everything before him to the Pyrenees. "Neither," says Napier,
"the winter gulleys, nor the ravines, nor the precipitate passes among
the rocks, retarded even the march of the artillery--where horses could
not draw, men hauled; when the wheels would not roll, the guns were
let down or lifted by ropes--six days they toiled unceasingly, and
on the seventh (June 20th) they burst like raging streams from every
defile, and went foaming into the basin of Vittoria." There Joseph
Bonaparte and Marshal Jourdan had taken up the position from which
they were to be driven by the forceful Wellington, who spared nothing
to achieve his object. "Never," wrote Napier, "was an army more hardly
used by its commander, and never was a victory more complete." It was
a terrific struggle; "the hills laboured and shook, and streamed with
fire and water," ere the pseudo-king, Joseph Bonaparte, and his army
fled in confusion, leaving all his personal belongings, and the rich
pictures and plunder he had taken from every part of Spain, strewn on
the road, for whosoever had a mind to acquire; 151 guns, 415 caissons
of ammunition, 4,000 rounds for guns, and 2,000,000 musket cartridges
were also abandoned, and a full military treasure-chest. Indeed, never
had such an accumulation of military stores and private wealth been
abandoned by a routed army.
The French General Gazan, who took part in the battle, recorded
that the French "lost all their equipage, all their guns, all their
treasure, all their papers, so that no man could prove how much pay
was due to him." Joseph Bonaparte's carriage was abandoned in the
street in his haste to evade Captain Wyndham, who made a bold dash to
secure him; the Sword of State, emblematic of the kingship which the
brother of Bonaparte had claimed, but which he had lost for ever, and
the marshal's baton belonging to Jourdan, together with the Eagle of
the 100th Regiment, were among the spoils. It is also recorded that "a
perfect herd of women, including General Gazan's wife, and a number
of the wives, mistresses, actresses, and nuns, belonging to officers
and men of the French army, were abandoned." The Field Marshal's
baton, which was taken by the 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers, commanded by
Lieutenant-Colonel (afterwards Viscount) Gough, was sent to the Prince
Regent, who responded by sending Wellington the Field Marshal's baton
of Britain.
The French loss in killed and wounded was estimated by M. Thiers at
5,000; the allies' losses were, British 500 killed, 2,300 wounded, and
266 missing; the Portuguese loss was about 150 killed and 900 wounded;
the Spanish losing 89 killed and 460 wounded.
The British regiments present were the 1st and 2nd Life Guards and
Horse Guards, represented by two squadrons; 1st, 3rd, and 5th Dragoons;
3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, and 18th Light
Dragoons; 2nd and 3rd Foot Guards; 1st Royal Scots; 2nd Queen's Royal;
4th King's Own Royal; 5th Northumberland Fusiliers; 6th Royal 1st
Warwickshire; 7th Royal Fusiliers; 9th East Norfolk; 20th; 23rd Royal
Welsh Fusiliers; 24th; 27th Inniskilling; 28th North Gloucestershire;
31st, 34th, 38th Staffordshire; 39th Dorsetshire; 40th; 43rd Monmouth
Light Infantry; 45th Sherwood Foresters; 47th Lancashire; 48th
Northamptonshire; 50th Queen's Own; 51st King's Own Light Infantry;
52nd Oxford Light Infantry; 53rd Shropshire; 57th West Middlesex; 58th,
59th, 60th King's Royal Rifle Corps; 66th Berkshire; 68th Durham Light
Infantry; 71st Highland Light Infantry; 74th Highland Regiment; 82nd
Prince of Wales Volunteers; 83rd; 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers; 88th
Connaught Rangers; 92nd Gordon Highlanders; 94th; 95th Derbyshire.
=Pyrenees.=--The rout at Vittoria gave Wellington possession of the
passes of the Pyrenees, and when in 1849 it was decided to decorate the
surviving soldiers of the Peninsular War, all those who had taken part
in the series of extraordinary actions in the Pyrenees, Roncesvalles,
Maya, Santarem, and Buenzas, from July 28th to August 2nd, 1813, were
awarded the medal with bar inscribed PYRENEES, and those who were
entitled to the medal for other actions received the additional bar.
Napoleon ordered his brother to retire into private life and instructed
the officials not to pay him the respect due to a monarch. Soult was
ordered to take up the command, and did so with a zest and ability that
has called forth the admiration of all who recognise in the dread game
of war that sportsmanlike character which thoughtfully dares all and
takes its rebuffs with a smile.
=Siege of Sebastian.=--Meanwhile, Wellington instructed the Spanish
Generals to blockade the fortress of Pampeluna, and besieged San
Sebastian, which was blockaded by the British Navy on July 3rd, and
invested by the troops under Sir Thomas Graham on the 9th. During this,
the first siege of San Sebastian, a Frenchman states that on the 19th
and 20th for fifteen hours the British fired 350 shots per gun. On the
24th General Graham ordered the assault, and the way was led by Colin
Campbell (afterwards Lord Clyde) of the 9th, and Machet the engineer.
Campbell, doing many a daring deed, saw all his friends dead round
him, while he, seriously wounded, was spared to achieve greater things.
In this assault 44 officers of the line and 500 men were killed,
wounded, or taken prisoners. The battalion of the Royal Scots present
alone lost 87 killed and 246 wounded in the unsuccessful assault. In
the meantime Marshal Soult, who had reached Bayonne on July 13th to
take command of the united French army, attacked Major-General Byng's
brigade at Roncesvalles on the 25th, while Count D'Erlon proceeded
to attack Sir Rowland Hill in the Pass of Maya, where very desperate
fighting ensued. The fighting at Roncesvalles and Maya continued until
nine in the evening, when it was deemed advisable to abandon the Pass
of Maya to the enemy.