Part 5

The battle was fought on May 16th, 1811, the Spanish leaders agreeing that Marshal Beresford should have supreme command, and to receive battle in the village of Albuera. The allied army consisted of 32,000 infantrymen and 2,000 cavalry, with 38 guns; half the force was Spanish, and the other half equally composed of British and Portuguese. The Spaniards, as usual, were slack, and did not get into position properly. The battle opened by the French attacking the heights on the right of the Spaniards, and though they fought stubbornly at first they gradually gave way before the onslaught of the French. Matters had become very serious when General Stewart sent the leading brigade of his division up the hill under General Colborne; the advance was made in a drizzling rain. The French made several brilliant charges, and in the _mêlée_ the commanding officer, Marshal Beresford, was attacked by a Polish lancer, whom he seized bodily and threw from his saddle. Those were heroic days indeed! The bad weather, which had so far favoured the French, actually helped to save the day for the English, for the drizzling rain prevented Marshal Soult from appreciating the sad condition of the British. On the heights the 31st had resolutely held its ground; other regiments had been cut to pieces, and Beresford thought of retreat, when the cool daring of Colonel (afterwards Lord) Hardinge, who took upon himself to order General Cole to advance, and, taking General Abercromby's brigade to the ground, saved the day--to which, by the way, the Portuguese regiments of the fourth division contributed--General Cole leading the 7th and 23rd Fusiliers in person. Cole drove off the Lancers and recovered the lost guns, but ere the enemy were driven from the ridge, they had fired a terrific volley from all the guns, which killed Sir William Myers, wounded the intrepid Cole and three officers, while the Fusiliers "reeled and staggered under the iron tempest like sinking ships, but nothing could stop them." Soult, rushing into the thickest of the fight, tried to encourage his brave soldiers to stand; it was useless. "Suddenly and sternly recovering, they closed on their terrible enemies, and then was seen with what a strength and majesty the British soldier fights." To again quote Napier, "Nothing could stop that astonishing infantry ... their measured tread shook the ground, their dreadful volleys swept away the head of every formation ... the French reserve, mixing with the struggling multitude, endeavoured to sustain the fight, but the effort only increased the irremediable confusion; the mighty mass gave way, and like a loosened cliff went headlong down the steep. The rain flowed after it in streams, discoloured with blood, and 1,500 unwounded men, the remnant of 6,000 unconquerable British soldiers, stood triumphant on the fatal hill." The dead and wounded lay in two distinct lines on the ground, and in such compact masses that 7,000 bodies occupied so small an area that the artillery advancing into action had to pass over the living and the dead, friend and enemy.

[Illustration: ALCANTARA MEDAL, 1809. (Obverse.)]

[Illustration: MILITARY GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL.]

[Illustration: ALCANTARA MEDAL, 1809. (Reverse.)]

=The Immortals.=--The "Die-hards," the "Buffs," the 7th Fusiliers, and 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.