Part 6

=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.

=Gallantry of Gordons at Maya.=--In the day's fighting the allies 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.