lost 1,600 men and 4 guns. In the Pass of Maya the British troops had
been engaged for ten hours, and it is noteworthy that the 92nd Gordon
Highlanders, being without ammunition, although ordered by General
Stewart not to charge, could not be restrained, and not only charged,
but led a charge against the enemy. In this engagement the 92nd lost
1 officer and 34 men killed, and 18 officers and 268 men wounded, one
wing being practically annihilated. Napier states in his history of
the war that "so dreadful was the slaughter, especially of the 92nd,
that it is said the advancing enemy was actually stopped by the heaped
dead and dying. The stern valour of the 92nd, principally composed of
Scotsmen, would have graced Thermopylæ." In this sanguinary combat the
82nd also particularly distinguished itself.
[Illustration: PRUSSIAN MEDALS FOR NAPOLEONIC WARS.]
[Illustration: BRONZE MEDAL TO BRITISH GERMAN LEGION FOR PENINSULAR
WAR.]
[Illustration: SILVER MEDAL TO HANSEATIC LEGION, 1813-15.
(See section, Some Continental and Foreign War Medals, p. 357.)]
On the 28th the British were attacked in position on a mountain ridge
between the valleys of the Lanz and the Guy, with Byng's brigade in
reserve on the second ridge of Huerta, and the 6th division adjoining;
the latter had scarcely got into position, when General Clausel
attacked it from the Sorauren side; the fight became general, and 27th
and 48th Regiments, charging, "rolled back the enemy in disorder, and
threw them headlong down the mountain side." With admirable heroism
the French soldiers returned three times to the charge, but their
efforts could not avail against the dogged determination of the allied
troops. In this affair every regiment in the 4th division, the 40th,
7th, 20th, and 23rd, charged four times, while Major-General Ross had
two horses shot under him. On the 29th the rival armies were inactive,
Soult apparently considering his plans for the relief of Pampeluna
and San Sebastian. He decided to abandon any advance on the former,
and proceeded to relieve San Sebastian, but by masterly manœuvres
Wellington checkmated his opponent, and compelled him to abandon the
endeavour, and on August 2nd the French troops evacuated Spain at all
points.
For nine days the armies had confronted one another, and the allies
had lost in the different actions no less than 7,096 officers and men
killed and wounded, while the aggregate loss of the French is put down
at 15,000. At the conclusion of this series of conflicts Sir William
Stewart was wounded, and Wellington narrowly escaped being taken
prisoner by a French detachment which surprised him whilst studying a
map; the French Commander-in-Chief, Soult, also narrowly escaped with
his liberty.
=St. Sebastian.=--While Soult and Wellington had been busily engaged,
General Rey, the Governor of San Sebastian, had employed himself in
strengthening the city and castle, so that when the second siege was
renewed on August 5th, 1813, he was in a position to make a very
desperate defence. Many inactive days were spent, to the chagrin of
Wellington, who complained of the exceeding inactivity of the navy,
which compelled him to lose more than half of August. However, by the
26th he had breaching guns and mortars in position, and with these he
opened fire upon the city, and as a result 250 yards of the walls were
reduced to ruins; but it was not until the night between August 30th
and 31st that the place was assaulted. Then, again, the British soldier
gave proof of his cool bearing, not once, but again and again. At 8
a.m. the town was bombarded by all the batteries, and the fire was kept
up until 11 a.m., when the order for the assault was given. A storming
party of 750 volunteers was asked for from the 1st, 4th, and light
divisions, "men who could show other troops how to mount a breach."
They successfully passed one danger which destroyed a party of thirteen
that had rushed to cut the _saucisson_ of a mine, to die in mounting
the great breach. At the sea wall hundreds of the British were killed
by the explosion of a mine, and then "began a frightful slaughter,"
for there was hardly another conflict so desperate and so sanguinary
as that which took place at the storming of the great breach; "the
appearance of the breach was perfectly delusive; nothing living could
reach the summit; no courage, however desperate, could overcome the
difficulties, for they were alike unexpected and unsurmountable." The
officers encouraged their men by word and action, "crowd after crowd
were seen to mount, totter, and to fall, and at length the whole mass
sank to the bottom of the breach, but remained stubborn and immovable
on this lower part." General Graham, beholding this, resorted to an
unparalleled expedient by ordering all the breaching batteries to fire
over the stormers' heads on to the inner wall. This daring inspiration
saved the situation, for the terrible storm of missiles, passing over
the heads of the British troops, did their deadly work by demolishing
the defences, and killing or driving away the defenders. Another
furious effort was made upon the breach, and when this seemed as though
it must fail, explosions occurred all along the enemy's defences,
and the British soldiery, breaking into the first traverse, poured
through the town, pushed past the barricades, which the defenders could
not hold even for a few moments in face of the impetuous stormers,
who were, however, compelled to leave the castle unattacked. In
this terrible conflict the chief engineer, Sir Richard Fletcher, was
killed; Burgoyne, the second engineer, wounded; also Generals Sir James
Leith, Oswald, and Robinson. The total loss of the besiegers on the
day of the capture was 761 killed, 1,697 wounded, and 45 missing. The
castle was pluckily defended, but on the 8th was reduced to ruins,
and the garrison, surrendering, were allowed to march out, the brave
Rey at their head, with all the honours of war. The siege had lasted
seventy-three days, during which time nine assaults had been made. The
disgraceful scenes of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz were surpassed at
San Sebastian by the addition of revolting cruelty to the excesses of
drunkenness, and the crimes of rape and murder.
The regiments engaged in the siege and capture were 200 of the Guards;
1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 20th, 23rd, 24th, 27th, 36th, 38th,
40th, 43rd, 47th, 48th, 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 59th, 68th, 82nd, 85th, 87th,
88th, and 95th, but only the Royal Scots, 4th, 9th, 38th, 47th, and
59th Regiments, are permitted to carry ST. SEBASTIAN on their colours.
=Chateauguay.=--This battle, fought on October 26th, 1813, occurred
during the military campaign in America. Having achieved a series
of successes, the Americans concentrated about 18,000 regulars and
10,000 militia at Sackett's Harbour. Sir George Prevost, thinking it
expedient, quitted Kingston and proceeded to the capital, whilst Sir R.
Skeaffe assembled as many troops as he possibly could, 8,000 militia
readily responding to the call. Major-General Hampton, commanding the
eastern division of the United States army, crossed the Canadian border
with 8,000 men on October 21st, having arranged to co-operate with
General Wilkinson, who was in command of about 10,000 men, but through
some misunderstanding the two forces were unable to combine, and on
October 26th General Hampton found himself faced by a body of 800 men,
under Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry, who disposed his little army
so admirably that he not only caused the enemy a severe loss, but
compelled Hampton to fall back to Plattsburgh, from which he "had not
the resolution again to return to the frontier."
Those engaged in this affair were the Canadian Fencible Light Infantry,
Canadian Militia, two companies of Voltigeurs, some Indians, and Royal
Artillery.
=The Peninsular Gold Cross.=--The long-drawn character of the
Peninsular War, and the frequent general engagements which called for
recognition, occasioned the recipients of the gold medals inconvenience
in wearing them; in consequence the names of battles were sometimes
engraved on the medals as suggested in Wellington's dispatch of October
1st, 1811, dated from Richoso. Subsequently an order was issued from
the Horse Guards, on October 7th, 1813, to the effect that amended
regulations would be adopted in the grant and circulation of marks of
distinction, _i.e._ medals. The regulations set forth that (1st) only
one medal should be borne by each officer, (2nd) that for the second
and third events a gold clasp attached to a ribbon, from which the
medal is suspended, inscribed with the name of the battle or siege to
which it relates. These bars, which were unconnected, were 2 in. long
by ⅗ in. broad, with laureated edges, the names of the battles being
soldered on. They were pierced and lapped bright. (3rd) That upon a
claim being admitted to a fourth mark of distinction, a cross shall
be borne by each officer with the names of the four battles or sieges
respectively inscribed thereupon, and to be worn in substitution of
the distinctions previously granted. (4th) That upon each occasion
of a similar nature, that may occur subsequent to the grant of the
cross, the clasp shall again be issued to those who have a claim to the
distinction. The following officers were eligible for the distinction:
General Officers, Commanding Officers of Brigades, Commanding Officers
of Artillery and Engineers, Adjutant-General and Quartermaster-General,
also Assistant Adjutant-General and Quartermaster-General ranking with
Field Officers; Military Secretary having the rank of Field Officer,
Commanding Officers of Battalions or Corps equivalent thereto, and
Officers who may have succeeded to the actual command during an
engagement, owing to the death or removal of the original Commanding
Officer.
[Illustration: (Obverse) WATERLOO MEDAL.]
[Illustration: ARMY OF INDIA MEDAL.]
[Illustration: (Reverse.) WATERLOO MEDAL.]
The cross (see facing page 44), Maltese in form, is 1½ in. square, with
a bright lapped double border framing a laurel mount. In the centre in
bold relief is the British Lion statant, and on the four arms of the
cross are arranged the names of the battles the recipient was engaged
in. The name of the first battle is arranged in the space above the
Lion. The obverse and reverse are similar; the cross was suspended
from a crimson ribbon with blue edges--the regulation ribbon at this
time--1⁷⁄₁₀ in. wide, by means of a gold swivel and laureated ring,
connected to the cross by means of a gold loop and ornamentation. The
names and regiments of recipients were engraved on the edges of the
arms of the cross.
_Number Issued._--The Duke of Wellington received the only cross with 9
bars, representing 13 engagements; two were issued with 7 bars; three
with 6 bars; seven with 5 bars; eight with 4 bars; seventeen with 3
bars; eighteen with 2 bars; forty-six with 1 bar, and sixty-one the
cross alone. Eighty-five large gold medals were issued, and 599 small
gold ones. One hundred and forty-three bore 1 bar, and seventy-two 2
bars, leaving four hundred and sixty-nine medals without bars or clasps.
=Nivelle.=--For nearly six cold and inclement weeks after the fall
of San Sebastian, Wellington remained inactive in the Pyrenees, the
troops suffering considerably in the bleak situation. Then began the
operation which has been described as one of the boldest of the war.
Wellington determined to seize the great La Rhune mountain, 2,700 ft.
high, which stood between the Nivelle and Bidassoa valleys and the
dependent heights; by so doing he could menace the centre of the French
line, and cross the border. Soult lost his head, and called upon the
French peoples of the provinces to take up arms and war "to the knife."
Wellington coolly responded by informing the inhabitants that England
did not make war upon the people, but upon their ruler, who did not
allow others to remain at peace, and impressed upon his soldiers that
any acts of violence or marauding would be punished by death. Early on
the morning of October 7th, 1814, the British made their first movement
by crossing the mouth of the Bidassoa River--a feat classed among the
ablest and boldest of Wellington's operations; the enemy were taken by
surprise, and the British carried everything before them. At 3 o'clock
in the afternoon the famous exploit of Lieutenant William Havelock,
"El Chico Blanco," took place. He had been sent by General Baron
Alten to see the progress that Marshal Giron's Spaniards had made,
and finding them irresolute, despite their previous successes, his
fiery spirit could not brook the check. Taking off his hat, he called
upon the Spaniards to follow him, set spurs to his horse, and cleared
the abattis at a bound. "Then," wrote Napier, "the soldiers, shouting
for 'El Chico Blanco' (the fair boy)--so they called him, for he was
young and had light hair--with one shock broke through the French,
and at the very moment when their centre was flying under the fire
of Kempt's skirmishers from the Puerto de Vera." (Lieutenant-Colonel
Havelock, elder brother of Sir Henry Havelock, was born on January
23rd, 1793, and killed while leading the 14th Light Dragoons--"450
sabres against an army amounting to more than 15,000 men with heavy
cannon"--at Ramnuggur, November 22nd, 1848.) In three days the allies
lost 814 men, and the French 1,400, but the victorious allies were now
on French soil, and working well together, the Spaniards rising to
the occasion as success succeeded success. For some days the armies
were inactive; Wellington was getting ready to resume the offensive,
while Soult was preparing to attack. The enemy, however, attacked,
and carried a redoubt in the camp of Sarre held by the Spaniards.
They then attacked, on the morning of the 13th, the advance posts of
the army of Andalusia, under the command of Marshal Giron, but were
easily repulsed. Ultimately the French retreated in confusion towards
the bridge of Nivelle, and on November 10th the battle of La Nivelle
was fought. It was a beautiful morning, and it must have been a grand
sight to see the army of 90,000 men descend to the battle. "Three guns
pealed from the mountain heights of Achubia ... and the battle of the
Nivelle commenced." Driven from the centre, many of the French troops
crossed the Nivelle at St. Pè, while Major-General Colville, with the
3rd division, and General Le Cor with the 7th, drove off those who
held the heights above, and established the allied army on the rear
of the enemy's right. Night ended the battle, and under cover of the
darkness Soult withdrew his army and abandoned the position he had
been fortifying for three months. On the 12th he took up his position
in front of the camp at Bayonne. In this engagement the allies took
1,400 prisoners, 51 pieces of cannon, and 6 tumbrils of ammunition. The
French also lost 2,000 men killed and wounded.
In his dispatch Wellington particularly referred to the gallant conduct
of the 51st and 68th Regiments in the attack on the heights above St.
Pè. The allies lost 26 officers, including Lieutenant-Colonel Lloyd
of the 94th, 28 sergeants, 289 rank and file; 155 officers, including
Major-General Kempt, and 2,146 men wounded; 3 officers and 70 men
missing.
The following regiments were present in the engagements leading up to
the battle of Nivelle. 1st and 2nd Batts. Foot Guards; 1st, 2nd, 3rd,
4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 20th, 23rd, 24th, 27th, 28th, 31st,
32nd, 34th, 36th, 38th, 39th, 40th, 42nd, 43rd, 45th, 47th, 48th, 50th,
51st, 52nd, 53rd, 57th, 58th, 59th, 60th, 61st, 62nd, 66th, 68th, 71st
(did not take active part), 74th, 76th, 79th, 82nd, 83rd, 84th, 85th,
87th, 88th, 91st, 92nd, 94th, and 95th; the Rifle Brigade; 12th, 13th,
14th, and 18th Light Dragoons, and the 1st and 2nd Light Battalions,
also the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Line Battalions of the King's German Legion.
=Chrystler's Farm.=--The day following the battle of Nivelle in
France saw a victory for British arms in Canada at Chrystler's Point,
commonly called Chrystler's Farm. This battle was a sequel to that at
Chateauguay. I have referred to the fact that the American General
Wilkinson, with his army of 10,000 men, had failed to combine with
Major-General Hampton, but by November 3rd he landed a portion of
his troops near Point Iroquois, to which place the British General
dispatched a force of 800 regulars and militia, under Colonel Morrison,
to stop the advance. Meeting 3,000 men who had been landed under
Major-General Boyd at Chrystler's Farm, Colonel Morrison's little army
routed them after a fight lasting two and a half hours, with a loss of
250 killed and wounded, besides 100 prisoners and one gun. The effect
of the action at Chrystler's Farm was to compel the enemy to evacuate
Lower Canada.
Men of the 49th and 2nd Battalion 89th Regiments, the Royal Artillery,
Canadian Militia, Fencibles and Voltigeurs, likewise a few Indians,
were engaged in this battle. As comparatively few regulars took part in
the American battles, Fort Detroit, Chateauguay, and Chrystler's Farm,
and because they were awarded so many years after, medals to British
regiments bearing these bars are very rare, as indeed are those of the
Colonials who took part.
[Illustration: NASSAU MEDAL FOR WATERLOO.]
[Illustration: HANOVERIAN MEDAL FOR WATERLOO.]
=Nive.=--Soult, having lost the Nivelle, withdrew his army to Anglet,
and formed a line of defence with his unfinished fortified camp in
front of Bayonne. Wellington, owing to the bad weather--the 12th
was very foggy, and rain fell in torrents from the 11th until the
20th November--was unable to move, and was consequently constrained
to maintain the allied army in very close quarters. The bad weather
abating, the British commander determined to enlarge the productive
area for his army by forcing the line of the Nive, and taking up a
position on the left bank of the Adour, where reasonable subsistence
could be found for the allied army. The time had not passed tamely, for
in pressing the posts slowly forward, Generals Wilson and Vandeleur
were wounded, while the light division alone lost 100 men. On December
8th the troops made a forward movement, and on the 9th the Nive was
crossed near Cambo by the right of the army under Lieutenant-General
Sir Rowland Hill, while the 6th division, under Lieutenant-General Sir
H. Clinton, successfully passed at Ustaritz, and by this manœuvre the
enemy were driven from the right bank of the river, and retired towards
Bayonne by the great road of St. Jean Pied de Port. Those opposite
Cambo were nearly intercepted by the 6th division, one regiment being
driven from the road and compelled to march across country.
On December 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th, Soult made a series of
determined and often desperate attacks upon the British divisions,
but without success, and was ultimately forced to fall back upon
Bayonne, leaving the courses of the Nivelle, Nive, and Adour in the
possession of the allies, who were thus enabled to obtain plentiful
supplies for their needs, while the enemy were harassed by having their
communications threatened and supplies restricted. During the conflicts
between the 9th and 13th the French lost about 6,000 killed and
wounded, and two guns. The British losses were 650 officers (including
6 Generals) and men killed; 233 officers, 215 sergeants, and 3,459 rank
and file wounded; 17 officers, 14 sergeants, and 473 rank and file
missing.
The battle on December 13th, which determined the series of conflicts,
was practically fought and won by the corps under Sir Rowland
Hill--indeed the glory of the day was frankly given him by Wellington,
who, taking him by the hand, said, "My dear Hill, the day is your
own." There could be little doubt about that, for on the heights of
St. Pierre--with only 16,000 men and 14 guns--he defied and drove off
35,000 French bayonets and 22 guns which assailed him in front, and the
corps (8,000) of General Paris, with the Light Cavalry under Pierre
Soult, which threatened his rear. The battle was regarded on both
sides as "one of the most sanguinary that the French Army of Spain had
fought, and that there was not one where so many deaths took place on
the battlefield." No wonder the enemy never again took the offensive!
The following regiments were present in the series of engagements: 1st,
2nd, and 3rd Foot Guards; 7th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 16th, and 18th Light
Dragoons; 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 20th, 23rd, 27th,
28th, 31st, 32nd, 34th, 36th, 38th, 39th, 40th, 42nd, 43rd, 45th, 47th,
48th, 50th, 52nd, 53rd, 57th, 59th, 60th, 61st, 62nd, 66th, 71st, 74th,
76th, 79th, 83rd, 84th, 85th, 87th, 88th, 91st, 92nd, 94th, 95th, and
the Rifle Brigade. Many of the regiments particularly distinguished
themselves on the day of victory; notably the 92nd, which, scattering
light troops that should have checked them, charged and repulsed a
column; re-forming behind St. Pierre, they again advanced with colours
flying and pibroch sounding, as if going to a review, and offered
battle to a French column five times their superior: the challenge
was, however, declined, for like Napier the French commanding officer
recognised that men who could act so understood war.
=Orthes.=--On February 27th, 1814, the battle of Orthes (Orthez) was
fought. A period of inaction had again been forced on Wellington by
the severity of the weather, but by the second week in February the
conditions were such as to make the roads passable, and the British
commander proceeded to follow up his successes. Several minor, but
in some instances obstinate, engagements, were fought, among them
that of Garris, where Wellington, determined to force the passage
of the Bidouse, ordered the 29th, with the 28th in support, to carry
a bold hill, occupied by 4,000 of the enemy, before dark. This they
did in a brilliant manner. Soult, finding the enemy pressing him
rather forcibly, crossed the Gave d'Olèron in the night, and marching
rapidly to Sauveterre, took up a position on the left of the Gave,
while Wellington, having strongly established his right upon the Gave
d'Olèron, returned to St. Jean de Luz to superintend the putting
together of the remarkable and "wondrous bridge," which had been
devised to enable the army to cross the Adour, 3 miles below Bayonne.
On the 25th Sir John Hope crossed with his whole corps for the
investment of the fortress; meanwhile Wellington was acting vigorously
at Gaves, and General Hill was ready to force the passage of the Gave
d'Olèron, which he did on the 24th, while Picton crossed between
Montfort and Lass; other divisions having made equal progress, Marshal
Soult withdrew his army across the Gave du Pau, and determined to make
a final stand at Orthez. There, on the semicircular heights, the army
of about 40,000 stood at bay, while the allies with about 37,000 men
advanced to the attack. They were irresistible, but Soult retreated
in a masterly manner, defending his divisions with splendid valour
at each ridge they passed. Once forced on to the plain, they fell
into disorder, and, charged and pursued by the British cavalry, they
hastened to the river, over which they passed in scattered parties, and
Soult retreated towards Toulouse, where the last and most unnecessary
battle of the campaign was to be fought. It is estimated that 8,000 men
were lost to the French in killed and wounded, while the allies lost 18
officers, 25 sergeants, and 234 men killed; 134 officers (including the
Duke of Wellington), 89 sergeants, and 1,700 rank and file wounded; 1
officer, 5 sergeants, and 64 men missing.
The following regiments were present: 3rd, 7th, 10th, 13th, 14th, 15th,
and 18th Light Dragoons; 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 10th, 20th, 23rd, 24th,
27th, 28th, 31st, 32nd, 34th, 36th, 37th, 39th, 40th, 42nd, 45th,
48th, 50th, 51st, 52nd, 57th, 58th, 60th, 61st, 66th, 68th, 71st,
74th, 82nd, 83rd, 87th, 88th, 91st, 92nd, 94th, 95th, and the Rifle
Brigade. The 7th Hussars (Light Dragoons) distinguished themselves in
the neighbourhood of Sault de Navailles, and made a charge under Lord
Edward Somerset which Wellington described as "highly meritorious." The
52nd Oxford Light Infantry were also mentioned in dispatches.