Part 6

Lieut.-General Graham stated, in his public despatch, “No expressions of mine could do justice to the conduct of the troops throughout. Nothing less than the almost unparalleled exertions of every officer, the invincible bravery of every soldier, and the most determined devotion to the honor of His Majesty’s arms, in all, could have achieved this brilliant success, against such a formidable enemy so posted.”

Among the prisoners were the General of Division Rufin, the General of Brigade Rousseau; the Chief of the Staff, General Bellegarde; an Aide-de-camp of Marshal Victor; the Colonel of the Eighth regiment, and several other officers. The prisoners amounted to two general officers, one field officer, nine captains, eight subalterns, and four hundred and twenty rank and file. The enemy lost about three thousand men in killed, wounded, and prisoners, while that of the British amounted to one thousand two hundred and forty-three killed and wounded. Six pieces of cannon were also captured.

Lieut.-General Graham, on this glorious occasion, wrote a short but comprehensive note from the field of battle, to General Sir John Doyle, the colonel of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, in these words, congratulating him on the steadiness and gallantry displayed by the second battalion in an action which redounded so much to the fame of the British arms.

“_Barrosa, 5th March, 1811._ “MY DEAR DOYLE,

“Your regiment has covered itself with glory. Recommend it and its commander (Gough) to their illustrious patron, the Prince Regent: too much cannot be done for it. “Ever yours, (Signed) “T. GRAHAM.”

Major Hugh Gough was promoted to the brevet rank of Lieut.-Colonel, in consequence of Lieut.-General Graham’s recommendation, for his gallantry at _Barrosa_, and also received a medal for that battle.

On the 18th of April 1811, His Royal Highness the Prince Regent was pleased to approve of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH being in future styled “_The_ EIGHTY-SEVENTH, _or Prince of Wales’s Own Irish Regiment_,” and of its bearing, as a badge of honor, on the regimental colour and appointments an _Eagle_ with a _Wreath of Laurel_, above the _Harp_, in addition to the arms of His Royal Highness, in commemoration of the distinguished gallantry of the second battalion on various occasions, and particularly at the battle of _Barrosa_ on the 5th of March 1811.

Both Houses of Parliament unanimously voted their thanks to Lieut.-General Graham, and the officers and men under his command, for this victory, and their valour and ability were highly applauded by the nation.

The importance of the victory was fully appreciated by Lieut.-General Viscount Wellington, K.B., who in a letter to Lieut.-General Graham, of the 25th of March, thus expressed himself:—

“I beg to congratulate you and the brave troops under your command, on the signal victory which you gained on the 5th instant. I have no doubt whatever, that their success would have had the effect of raising the siege of Cadiz, if the Spanish corps had made any effort to assist them; and I am equally certain, from your account of the ground, that if you had not decided with the utmost promptitude to attack the enemy, and if your attack had not been a most vigorous one, the whole allied army would have been lost.

“You have to regret that such a victory should not have been followed by all the consequences which might reasonably be expected from it; but you may console yourself with the reflection that you did your utmost, and, at all events, saved the allied army; and that the failure in the extent of benefit to be derived from your exertions is to be attributed to those who would have derived most advantage from them.

“I concur in the propriety of your withdrawing to the Isla on the 6th, as much as I admire the promptitude and determination of your attack of the 5th; and I most sincerely congratulate you and the brave troops under your command, on your success.”

And in a letter of the same date to Marshal Sir William Carr Beresford, K.B., Viscount Wellington stated:—

“General Graham has returned to the Isla, after having fought the hardest action that has been fought yet. The Spaniards left him very much to his own exertions. The Spanish General is to be brought to a court-martial.”

In a letter of the 27th of March to the Earl of Liverpool, Secretary of State, Lieut.-General Viscount Wellington expressed similar sentiments to the foregoing, and added:—

“I am convinced that His Royal Highness the Prince Regent will duly appreciate the promptitude with which Lieut.-General Graham decided to attack the enemy in the important position of which they had obtained possession; the vigour with which he carried that decision into execution, and the gallantry displayed by all the officers and troops upon that glorious occasion.”

The EIGHTY-SEVENTH having returned to Cadiz, after the battle of Barrosa, remained there until the 10th of October, when it embarked with a brigade under the command of Colonel Skerrett, of the Forty-seventh regiment, and landed at _Tarifa_ on the 15th of that month. A strong division of the French army, amounting to ten thousand men, under the immediate orders of General Laval, invested the town of _Tarifa_ on the 20th of December 1811. The garrison consisted of a thousand British, and about seven hundred Spanish troops, and was commanded by Colonel Skerrett. In the night of the 29th the enemy fired salvos of grape on the breach, and on the 30th the breaching fire was renewed. A heavy rain filled the bed of the river during the night, and the torrent bringing down planks, fascines, gabions and dead bodies from the French camp, broke the palisades, and bent the portcullis backward. The surge of the waters also injured the defences behind the breach. After a heavy cannonading and bombardment, with considerable skirmishing, a breach in the walls was effected, and preparations were made for storming on the 31st of December.

The post of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH was at the breach; and about eight o’clock in the morning of the 31st, the French troops, amounting to two thousand chosen men, composed of all the grenadiers and voltigeurs of the army, advanced thereto, where they were received by the EIGHTY-SEVENTH with three cheers, the battalion at the same time pouring in a most tremendous and well directed fire, which, for a moment, checked the enemy, who, as if to escape the fire, ran with desperation towards the breach, which they found impracticable; they then hurried along the wall, to endeavour to force the portcullis, but without effect, on which they fled precipitately to their own lines.

During the attack, the drums and fifes of the regiment played the favourite Irish airs of _Patrick’s Day_ and _Garryowen_, and nothing but the steadiness and discipline of the corps could have prevented them from pursuing the enemy.

The following eloquent description of this assault is given by Lieut.-General Sir William Napier, K.C.B., in his History of the Peninsular War.

“The waters subsided in the night as quickly as they had risen, but at daylight a living stream of French grenadiers glided swiftly down the bed of the river, and as if assured of victory, arrived, without shout or tumult, within a few yards of the walls, when, instead of quitting the hollow, to reach the breach, they, like the torrent of the night, continued their rapid course, and dashed against the portcullis. The British soldiers who had hitherto been silent and observant, as if at a spectacle which they were expected to applaud, now arose, and with a crashing volley smote the head of the French column. The leading officer, covered with wounds, fell against the portcullis, and gave up his sword through the bars to Colonel Gough. The French drummer, a gallant boy, who was beating the charge, dropped lifeless by his officer’s side, and the dead and wounded filled the hollow. The remainder of the assailants then breaking out to the right and left, spread along the slopes of ground under the ramparts, and opened a quick irregular musketry. At the same time, a number of men coming out of the trenches, leaped into pits digged in front, and shot fast at the garrison, but no escalade or diversion at the other points was made, and the storming column was dreadfully shattered; for the ramparts streamed forth fire, and from the north-eastern tower a field-piece, held in reserve expressly for the occasion, sent, at pistol-shot distance, a tempest of grape whistling through the French masses, which were swept away in such a dreadful manner, that they could no longer endure the destruction, but plunging once more into the hollow returned to their camp, while a shout of victory, mingled with the sound of musical instruments, passed round the wall of the town.”

This gallant affair cost the regiment but little; Lieutenants M. Carroll and Waller being the only officers wounded, and a few of the men.

Volunteer William Ireland was promoted to an ensigncy for his own good conduct and that of the regiment at the siege of TARIFA; and Serjeant Irwin very much distinguished himself.

The following is the return of killed and wounded in the action at _Tarifa_ on the 31st of December:—

_Royal Engineers._—Lieutenant Joseph Longley, killed.

_Forty-seventh Regiment, Second Battalion._—Lieutenant Richard Hall and one man killed; Lieutenant George Hill and two rank and file wounded.

_Eighty-seventh Regiment, Second Battalion._—Five rank and file killed; Lieutenant Morgan Carroll, Ensign Waller, and twenty-one rank and file wounded.

_Ninety-fifth Regiment, Second Battalion (Rifles.)_—One man killed, and one wounded.

_Total._—Two officers, and seven rank and file killed: three officers, and twenty-four rank and file wounded.

Colonel Skerrett, in the evening, issued the following orders:—

“Colonel Skerrett most sincerely congratulates the British garrison on the glorious result of the affair of to-day. Two thousand of the enemy’s best troops attacked the breach, and were totally defeated with immense loss. On our side all behaved nobly; but the conduct of _Lieut.-Colonel Gough_, and the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, surpasses praise.”

The situation of the enemy’s wounded, with which the ground was covered between his battery and the British fire, where they must have inevitably perished, induced Colonel Skerrett, from motives of compassion, to hoist a flag of truce to carry them off. Some were brought into the place over the breach; but from the extreme difficulty attending this, the French were allowed to carry the remainder away. General Laval expressed his acknowledgment of the conduct of the British and Spanish nations on this occasion in the most feeling and grateful terms. The enemy’s loss was very severe, and ten officers were amongst the prisoners.[14]

[Sidenote: 1812.]

From the movements of the enemy on the 4th of January 1812, it was supposed that another assault was intended, and the garrison waited in eager expectation to display another proof of British valour. On the following morning, at daylight, the columns of the enemy were already at a distance, having taken advantage of a dark and stormy night to make a precipitate retreat, leaving in the possession of the British all his artillery, ammunition, and stores. Marshal Victor was present in the French camp to give orders for the retreat. Major Richard Broad, with a part of the Forty-seventh regiment, was immediately ordered to follow the enemy, and he took possession of the artillery, waggons, and a quantity of stores in sufficient time to save them from the flames, the French having set fire to them. Some prisoners were made on this occasion. In an intercepted despatch from Marshal Soult, three months after the siege, it was stated,—“The taking of Tarifa will be more hurtful to the English and to the defenders of Cadiz, than the taking of Alicant or even Badajoz, where I cannot go without first securing my left and taking Tarifa.”[15]

The royal authority was afterwards granted for the EIGHTY-SEVENTH to bear the word “TARIFA” on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of the distinguished gallantry of the second battalion in successfully defending the breach at that place against a very superior French force on the 31st of December 1811.

Four companies being left in Tarifa, the six companies returned to Cadiz, the siege of which place having been raised, the six companies marched in August 1812 with other corps from Cadiz, and occupied Seville, where they were shortly joined by the four companies from Tarifa. The battalion quitted Seville on the 30th of September, in order to join the army under the Marquis of Wellington, to which it was transferred on the first of October 1812.

The battalion proceeded to join the fourth division of the Peninsular army at Aranjuez, near Madrid, on the 25th of October. On the morning of the 31st, at eight o’clock, the advanced guard of Marshal Soult, consisting of nine thousand men, attacked the passage of the bridge and fort of _Puerto Largo_, several times during the day, but was defeated with considerable loss.

The second battalion of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment on this occasion behaved with great gallantry, and, continuing its march to Madrid, reached it that night, but, on the following one, commenced its retreat to Salamanca, during which the rear-guard, being formed by the third brigade, of which the EIGHTY-SEVENTH then composed a part, was, on the 16th of November, attacked several times by the enemy’s cavalry. In the end of December, the regiment arrived at Salamanca, having lost during the retreat to Portugal, two officers, namely, Ensigns De Courcy Ireland and William Ireland, eight Serjeants, two drummers, and one hundred and eighty-two rank and file, by disease caused by fatigue and extreme bad weather. It rained continually for three days and nights, during which the regiment had no tents to cover them. The men were obliged to sit down in line each night to receive the enemy.

Serjeants Coppin, M’Mahon, Milligan, O’Hara, and Palmer, were promoted to be ensigns after the retreat, on account of the good conduct of the regiment.

A striking instance of intrepidity and presence of mind occurred on one of those marches in the Peninsula, which so frequently terminated in a general action. During a short halt, the EIGHTY-SEVENTH took up its ground upon a hill not far from the enemy, and the men were sitting down to rest, when a howitzer, that had been masked, opened upon them; some shells fell short, but one alighted in the centre of one of the companies. The men naturally endeavoured to get out of its reach, when James Geraghty, a private grenadier, called out to the men, “that he would show them how they played foot-ball at Limerick;” and immediately kicked the live shell, with its burning fuse, over the edge of the hill: the moment it touched the ground it exploded without injuring a man of the regiment. For this gallant act the commanding officer made the man a handsome present.

[Sidenote: 1813.]

The army took the field in 1813, and arrived in the neighbourhood of _Vittoria_ on the 18th of June, and on the 21st of that month the regiment was engaged with the French army until dark, when the enemy was routed with immense loss; one hundred and fifty-one pieces of artillery, a stand of colours, with all his baggage, falling into the hands of the victors.

The EIGHTY-SEVENTH formed part of the third division; the Marquis of Wellington ordered that an attack should be made on three separate points; on the right by Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, with the second division, upon the French left at Puebla; while on the left, Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham, with the first and fifth divisions, was to make a wide detour to the left, and crossing the Zadorra at _Vittoria_ to attack their right, and cut off their retreat by the great road to Bayonne. The centre, consisting of the fourth and light divisions (under the Marquis of Wellington himself) on the right, and the third and seventh (under Lieut.-General the Earl of Dalhousie) on the left, were to pass the bridges in front, and attack as soon as the movements on the flanks should be executed. The difficult nature of the country prevented the communication between the different columns moving to the attack from their stations on the river Bayas, at as early an hour as was expected. The fourth and light divisions, however, passed the Zadorra immediately after Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill had obtained possession of Subijana de Alava; and almost as soon as these had crossed, the column under the Earl of Dalhousie arrived at Mendoza. The third division, under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Picton, crossed at the bridge higher up, followed by the seventh division under the Earl of Dalhousie. The seventh division, and the centre brigade of the third division, then attacked the French right centre, in front of the villages of Margarita and Hermandad; and the Marquis of Wellington, seeing the hill in front of the village of Arinez weakly occupied by the enemy, ordered the right brigade of the third division, under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Picton, in close columns of battalions, at a run diagonally across the front of both armies, to that central point. The hill was carried immediately, and the French withdrew, under cover of a cannonade from fifty pieces of artillery and a crowd of skirmishers, to the second range of heights on which their reserve had been posted; they, however, still held the village of Arinez, on the great road leading to Vittoria. The brigade then advanced to the attack of the village of Arinez, and the French were finally driven back in confusion at the point of the bayonet. These four divisions, forming the centre of the army, were destined to attack the height on which the right of the enemy’s centre was placed, while Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill should move forward from Subijana de Alava to attack the left. The enemy, however, having weakened his line to strengthen his detachment on the hills, abandoned his position in the valley as soon as he saw the British position to attack it, and ultimately commenced his retreat in good order towards Vittoria.

Notwithstanding the difficulty of the ground, the allied troops continued to advance in admirable order. Other movements took place, the result of which terminated in a complete victory. King Joseph, whose carriage and court equipage were seized, had barely time to escape on horseback. The defeat was the most complete that the French had sustained in the Peninsula.

The Marquis of Wellington, in his despatch, stated that “Major-General the Honorable Charles Colville’s brigade of the third division was seriously attacked in its advance by a very superior force well formed, which it drove in, supported by General Inglis’s brigade of the seventh division, commanded by Colonel Grant, of the Eighty-second. _These officers and the troops under their command distinguished themselves._”

In this conflict the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, under Lieut.-Colonel Gough, had the honor of taking the bâton of Marshal Jourdan. The circumstance was thus alluded to upon the Marquis of Wellington being appointed a Field Marshal. In a most flattering letter, the Prince Regent, in the name and behalf of His Majesty, thus conferred the honor:—“You have sent me among the trophies of your unrivalled fame the staff of a French Marshal, and I send you in return that of England.”

The EIGHTY-SEVENTH had one ensign, four serjeants, and eighty-three rank and file killed; three captains, four lieutenants, two ensigns, seven serjeants, two drummers, and one hundred and forty-eight rank and file wounded, making a total of two hundred and fifty-four. The strength of the battalion in the field was six hundred and thirty-seven.

_Killed._

_Ensign_—Walter O’Grady.

_Wounded._

_Captain_—Frederick Vandeleur, } ” James O’Brien, } _died of their wounds_. ” James King.

_Lieutenant_—Philip Higginson. ” William Mountgarrett. ” Thomas Dowling. ” Wright Knox.

_Ensign_—John Stafford. ” Hilliard.

The royal authority was subsequently granted for the word “VITTORIA” to be borne on the regimental colour and appointments of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, in commemoration of the gallantry of the second battalion in this battle.

Volunteer O’Grady, and Serjeant-Major Wallace, were promoted for their good conduct; and Lieutenant and Adjutant Moore had two horses shot under him in this battle.

The army pursued the French, who, after throwing in reinforcements into the fortress of _Pampeluna_, continued their retreat. Being reinforced, and Marshal Soult, who had been selected by Napoleon for the command of the French army in Spain, with the rank of “Lieutenant of the Emperor,” having arrived, they forced the British to retire on a position in the Spanish range of the Pyrenees; when the brigade, in which the EIGHTY-SEVENTH was placed, held the right of the position from the 27th of July to the 1st of August, during which the enemy twice made demonstrations of attack. The French being defeated on the 1st of August, retreated and took up and fortified a position in their own territories; the British pursued through the famous pass of Roncesvalles, and on the 8th of August 1813, first came in view of France, and entered its territories on the 10th of November, having during the intermediate period being engaged in skirmishes, in which a few were killed and wounded.

On the 10th of November the British troops were engaged at the _Nivelle_, from five o’clock in the morning until dark, meeting with a most obstinate resistance in an entrenched camp. The gallantry of the allies, however, drove the French to Saint Jean de Luz. The EIGHTY-SEVENTH on this occasion called forth from Major-General the Honorable Charles Colville, who commanded the division, and Colonel John Keane (afterwards Lieut.-General Lord Keane), who commanded the brigade, the most animated praises. One ensign, six serjeants, one drummer, and sixty-eight rank and file, were killed; one lieut.-colonel, four lieutenants, eleven serjeants, one drummer, and one hundred and twenty-three rank and file, wounded. Total, two hundred and sixteen. The strength of the battalion in the field was three hundred and eighty-six.

_Killed._

_Ensign_—Hilliard.

_Wounded._

_Brevet Lieut.-Colonel_—Hugh Gough. _Lieutenant_—John Kelly, _leg amputated_. ” Joseph Leslie. ” James Kenelly. _Ensign_—Henry Bailey.

The word “NIVELLE,” borne on the regimental colour and appointments, by royal authority, is commemorative of the gallantry of the second battalion of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH on this occasion.

During the remaining part of the year, the regiment was frequently engaged with the enemy in skirmishes.

Private Robert Smith, of the Grenadiers, was, at the request of Sir Charles Colville, promoted to be serjeant for his gallantry.

Volunteers Bourne and Bagenall, who were attached to the light company, were both severely wounded, and promoted to be ensigns for their gallant conduct. Serjeant Prideaux, of the light company, also distinguished himself.

[Sidenote: 1814.]

In 1814 the army, strengthened by recruits and recovered men, continued its march into France, and on the 24th of February arrived at Salvatira.

The light company was engaged with those of the brigade, when a much superior force of the enemy attacked them; the light companies were in consequence recalled, and the brigade brought down to cover their retreat. On this occasion two rank and file were killed; Lieutenants Joseph Barry and William Wolsley Lanphier, with nine rank and file, wounded; and Lieutenant George Jackson taken prisoner.

On the 25th of February the regiment crossed the ford, attacked the French at _Orthes_ on the 27th, and drove them from their entrenchments with immense loss. In this action the second battalion of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment drew from the general officers in command the greatest praises for its bravery. It had one lieutenant, five serjeants, and eighty-seven rank and file killed; one major, four lieutenants, eight serjeants, and one hundred and fifty-eight rank and file wounded: total, two hundred and sixty-four. The strength in the field was five hundred and fifty-one.

_Killed._

_Lieutenant_—James Fitz Gerald.

_Wounded._

_Major_—Frederick Desbarres. _Lieutenant_—William Mountgarrett. ” James Thompson. ” Grady. ” William Maginnis.

In commemoration of this battle, the EIGHTY-SEVENTH received the royal authority to bear the word “ORTHES” on the regimental colour and appointments.