Part 6

The British Government resolved to make another effort to save Portugal from invasion, and also to assist the Spaniards in their struggle for independence. Accordingly in April 1809, Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley was sent with reinforcements to Portugal, and was appointed to the command of the British army in the Peninsula. His first object was to dislodge Marshal Soult from Oporto. The famous passage of the Douro led to the fall of Oporto, and the French Marshal was compelled to retreat. The Spanish General Cuesta having been defeated, with great loss, by the division of the French army under Marshal Victor, Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley was obliged to desist from the pursuit of Marshal Soult.

In the beginning of July, the British army advanced into Spain, and a junction being effected with General Cuesta, the combined forces occupied a strong position at _Talavera_. Here they were attacked on the 27th and 28th of July, 1809, and the French army, commanded by Joseph Bonaparte in person, was defeated; for which victory Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley was raised to the peerage by the title of _Viscount Wellington_.

After this victory it was deemed necessary to make a retrograde movement on Badajoz, information having been received that Marshals Soult, Ney, and Victor had united their forces, and were advancing to fall on the rear of the allied army.

Viscount Wellington now became occupied with the defence of Portugal. The French armies in Spain had been reinforced during the winter of 1809-10 with troops from Germany, peace having been concluded between France and Austria; and in April, 1810, the Emperor Napoleon espoused the Archduchess Maria Louisa, daughter of the Emperor of Austria.

Spain having been reduced to French domination, Napoleon resolved to subjugate Portugal, and Marshal Massena, Prince of Essling, assumed the command of the “_Army of Portugal_” in May. Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida were captured by the French, who were, however, gallantly repulsed at the _Sierra de Busaco_ on the 27th of September, 1810, after which Viscount Wellington occupied the strong position of Torres Vedras, about thirty miles from Lisbon.

This was the state of affairs in the Peninsula when the NINETY-SECOND arrived in the Tagus. On the 8th of October, the battalion landed, and the necessary camp equipage, on taking the field, was immediately issued.

[Sidenote: 1811]

The NINETY-SECOND, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel John Cameron, marched from Lisbon to join the army under Viscount Wellington, then in the fortified lines of Torres Vedras, and arrived at Cruzandera on the 15th of October, where the battalion remained until the 15th of November. At this period it was attached to the first division of the army, and was brigaded with the _fiftieth_ and _seventy-first_ regiments, under Major-General Howard.

Marshal Massena having abandoned his position in front of the British, and retired upon Santarem, the NINETY-SECOND advanced on the 15th of November, and occupied the village of Almostal on the 19th of November, moving on the 28th to Alcantrinha, the enemy occupying a strong position at Santarem, immediately in front of the British army.

At the commencement of the year 1811, Lisbon was the point on which the interests of the British nation in foreign affairs were concentrated, and the question whether Portugal should remain independent, or become subject to France, was to be decided by the two great armies posted near Lisbon, the one for attack, the other for defence.

The difficulty of supplying his troops with necessaries in a devastated country, and the impracticability of forcing the fortified lines of Viscount Wellington, at Torres Vedras, at length compelled Marshal Massena to consult the safety of his army by a seasonable retreat.

During the night of the 5th of March, the enemy broke up from his position near Santarem, and retreated in the direction of Almeida. Viscount Wellington immediately pursued Marshal Massena by Thomar, Pombal, Redinha, and Espinhal, at each of which places some sharp affairs took place, honorable to the British arms, as well as at Sabugal on the 3rd of April, immediately after which the French continued their retreat into Spain.

The first battalion of the NINETY-SECOND regiment entered Spain on the 9th of April, and was cantoned in Albergaria, where a detachment of one lieutenant and forty-four rank and file joined from the second battalion, then in Ireland. At this period, the sixth division of the British army invested _Almeida_, and a force of British and Portuguese under Marshal Beresford was employed in the Alemtejo and Spanish Estremadura, which compelled the enemy to abandon Campo Mayor. _Olivenza_ was next besieged by Marshal Beresford, and retaken on the 15th of April, after which he broke ground before _Badajoz_.

Marshal Massena had reached Ciudad Rodrigo on the 25th of April, and, having concentrated his forces, crossed the Agueda on the 2nd of May, and advanced towards the allied army, posted between that river and the Coa, in order to relieve _Almeida_. On the approach of the French, the British light division and cavalry fell back upon _Fuentes d’Onor_, where three other divisions were posted, and in which Viscount Wellington determined to receive the attack of the enemy.

The village of _Fuentes d’Onor_ is situated on low ground, at the bottom of a ravine, with an old chapel and some buildings on a craggy eminence which overhang one end. In the afternoon of the 3rd of May, the enemy attacked the village with a very large force, and was repulsed with loss. On this occasion, the light company of the NINETY-SECOND distinguished itself. Lieutenant James Hill was wounded; nine rank and file were likewise wounded.

The main body of the British army was concentrated in the vicinity of Fuentes d’Onor in the course of the evening and following day. On the 5th of May, the enemy, very superior to the British in numbers, made an attack on the right of the allied position early in the morning, and also on the village, which he repeated during the day, and the action became general. Each of his attacks was successively repulsed, and towards the evening, the victory being decidedly in favour of the British, the French retired to their original position.

On this occasion, the first battalion of the NINETY-SECOND regiment, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Cameron, was stationed to the right of _Fuentes d’Onor_, covering a brigade of nine-pounders, and was exposed to a very heavy cannonade. The light company, and a subdivision of each of the others in its front, were warmly engaged throughout the day, and eminently distinguished themselves. Major Archibald McDonnell, who commanded them, was in consequence promoted to the brevet rank of Lieut.-Colonel. Major Peter Grant and Lieutenant Allan McNab were severely wounded; the latter died two days afterwards. The battalion had also seven rank and file killed and thirty-five wounded.

The NINETY-SECOND afterwards received the Royal Authority to bear the words “FUENTES D’ONOR” on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of the gallantry displayed by the first battalion in that battle.

Both armies continued in their positions during the 6th and 7th of May without any particular occurrence, and on the morning of the 8th, the rear of the enemy’s columns was seen retreating on the road towards Ciudad Rodrigo. The NINETY-SECOND still remained bivouacked near Fuentes d’Onor.

The French crossed the Agueda and left _Almeida_ to its fate. That place was evacuated by General Brennier at midnight of the 10th of May, when the enemy blew up the works, and the greater part of the garrison succeeded in effecting its escape during the night.

On the 14th of May, the battalion returned to its former cantonments in Albergaria, where orders were received increasing its establishment to twelve hundred rank and file.

Marshal Beresford, in the meantime, was continuing the blockade of _Badajoz_; but receiving information that Marshal Soult was advancing from Seville to its relief, he raised the siege on the 15th of May, and having concentrated his force, marched to meet the enemy. On the following day, the battle of _Albuhera_ was fought, and the British gained a brilliant but hard-earned victory. In the night of the 17th, Marshal Soult left Badajoz to its fate, and commenced his retreat towards Seville.

Viscount Wellington now gave orders for _Badajoz_ to be again closely invested. To assist in these operations, the brigade, of which the NINETY-SECOND formed part, was appointed the first in the second division of the army, under Lieut.-General Rowland (afterwards Viscount) Hill, at this time in Spanish Estremadura, covering the siege of Badajoz.

The battalion, under Lieut.-Colonel Cameron, marched, on the 25th of May, from Albergaria for the Alemtejo, crossed the Tagus at Villa Velha, and the Guadiana above Badajoz, and joined the second division in front of Albuhera, on the 10th of June, about ten days after the second siege of Badajoz had been commenced. Its effective strength consisted of fifty-six serjeants, sixteen drummers, and eight hundred and twenty-five rank and file.

Marshal Marmont, with the French army of Portugal, having effected a junction with that of the south, under Marshal Soult, they advanced to relieve Badajoz; Viscount Wellington found it therefore necessary to relinquish the siege, and to withdraw the allied army across the Guadiana.

Accordingly, the second division, on the 16th of June, broke up from its bivouac in front of Albuhera, marched by Valverde, recrossed the Guadiana, and arrived at Torre do Mouro on the 20th of June, where the principal part of the British army was drawn up in position, with its right upon Elvas and the left on Campo Mayor. The division broke up from the bivouac at Torre do Mouro on the 21st of July, marched to Elvas, and on the following day went into quarters in Borba, from whence it marched on the 1st of September, arriving on the 3rd of that month at Portalegre.

Meanwhile the main body of the army, under Viscount Wellington, had crossed the Tagus and invested _Ciudad Rodrigo_. Towards the end of September, Marshal Marmont, having received large reinforcements, advanced to Ciudad Rodrigo, and, after a partial engagement at El Bodon on the 25th of September, Viscount Wellington withdrew his army to his former position on the Coa.

On the 7th of October, a draft of one hundred and ninety-nine rank and file was received from the second battalion.

The second battalion embarked at Belfast on the 10th of October, and arrived on the following day at Irvine in North Britain.

General Girard’s division of the fifth French corps having taken post at Caceres, Lieut.-General Rowland Hill determined to drive the enemy from thence, and on the approach of the British troops the French retired, halting at _Arroyo-del-Molinos_.

On the 22nd of October, the first battalion of the NINETY-SECOND marched from Portalegre to Codesiera; on the 23rd to Albuquerque; on the 24th to the Sierra de San Pedro; on the 25th to Aliseda; on the 26th to Malpartida; on the following day to Alcuesca, and bivouacked without fires about a league from _Arroyo-del-Molinos_. During the whole of this fatiguing march, the weather was extremely severe, with constant rain.

The British troops, under Lieut.-General Hill, marched about two o’clock in the morning of the 28th of October, towards _Arroyo-del-Molinos_, a village situated in a plain at the foot of a ridge of rocks rising in the form of a crescent, their approach being concealed by a thick mist with heavy rain. The French infantry were assembling outside the village to commence their march to Merida, the baggage was being loaded, and General Girard was waiting at his quarters for his horse, when suddenly the _seventy-first_ and NINETY-SECOND regiments charged into the village, capturing much baggage and many prisoners; at the same time the _twenty-eighth_ and _thirty-fourth_ regiments made a detour, supported by the _thirty-ninth_, to cut off the enemy’s retreat.

The French formed two squares and commenced retreating. The NINETY-SECOND attacked, and broke one of the enemy’s squares, which was formed on the other side of the village, and thereby completed his overthrow.

In this brilliant affair the enemy lost all his artillery and baggage; and several officers of rank and consideration, with about fourteen hundred men, were taken prisoners. General Brun and Colonel the Prince d’Aremberg were among the prisoners. The ninth and thirteenth light dragoons, and the second Hussars, King’s German Legion, also shared in the action.

The NINETY-SECOND had Lieut.-Colonel John Cameron, Captains Donald McDonald, John McPherson, and Robert Nugent Dunbar (Brevet-Major), wounded; three rank and file were killed and seven wounded.

[Illustration: Plan of the Action

at ARROYO DEL MOLINOS 28^{TH} OCTOBER, 1811.

_Madeley Lith. 3, Wellington St. Strand._]

In the evening the battalion marched to San Pedro, and on the 29th of October proceeded to Merida; on the 31st to Montejo; on the 1st of November to Campo Mayor; on the 3rd to Arronches; and arrived at Portalegre on the 4th of November.

Lieut.-General Hill, on the 7th of November, issued the following General Order:—

“Portalegre, 7th November, 1811.

“Lieut.-General Hill has great satisfaction in congratulating the troops on the success which has attended their recent operations in Estremadura, and in so doing, he cannot but endeavour to do justice to the merits of those through whose exertions it has been obtained. A patient willing endurance of forced and night marches, during the worst of weather and over bad roads, of bivouacs in wet weather, oftentimes without cover and without fire, and a strict observance of discipline, are qualities, however common in British soldiers, which the Lieut.-General cannot pass unnoticed. Having on this occasion witnessed the exertion of them in no ordinary degree, he feels that nothing but the most zealous attention of commanding officers, the good-will and zealous spirit of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers, could produce such an effect, and he requests they will, generally and individually, accept his warmest thanks, particularly those corps which were engaged in the action of _Arroyo-del-Molinos_, whose silent attention to orders, when preparing to attack, and when manœuvring before the enemy, could not but excite his notice, and give them an additional claim on him.”

Letters from the Secretary of State, dated the 2nd, and from His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief, dated the 6th December, were promulgated, expressive of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent’s approbation and thanks to Lieut.-General Hill, and the troops under his command, for their brilliant operations on the recent expedition in Spanish Estremadura, in having totally surprised and defeated the enemy under General Girard.

Viscount Wellington having made preparations for the recapture of _Ciudad Rodrigo_, concentrated the main body of the army in that neighbourhood, and the troops under Lieut.-General Hill were therefore ordered to divert the enemy’s attention in the south.

Lieut.-General Hill marched from Portalegre on the 26th of December, and proceeded on the 29th to a bivouac about a league beyond La Nava, at which village about three hundred French infantry were discovered running to their arms upon the approach of the head of the British cavalry column. They, however, effected their escape to Merida, from which place they had been that morning detached, and acquainted General Dombrouski of the approach of the British troops.

On the 30th of December, the NINETY-SECOND and other British troops entered Merida, the French having retreated during the night, where they halted during the following day.

[Sidenote: 1812]

On the 1st of January, 1812, the British troops moved upon Almendralejos, beyond which, and close to the town, the enemy’s columns were formed, and seen immediately retreating to Azauchal. On the 3rd, Lieut.-General Hill matched his force to Villa Franca. A brigade of infantry, and the cavalry, were pushed forward to Fuentes del Maestre, where a smart affair took place, the enemy retreating upon Llerena with the loss of some prisoners.

Lieut.-General Hill’s division returned to Almendralejos on the 4th of January, and the NINETY-SECOND marched on the following day to Merida, where the troops went into quarters. The siege of _Ciudad Rodrigo_, which commenced on the 8th of January, being in a state of forwardness, it was expected that the French would make an effort to relieve the place. Lieut.-General Hill was therefore directed to throw a part of his force across the Tagus.

The troops accordingly marched on the 13th of January from Merida to La Nava; on the 14th to Zogalla; on the 15th to Albuquerque; on the 16th to Codesiera; on the 17th to Portalegre; on the 19th to Alpalhao; on the 20th to Niza; and on the following day they crossed the Tagus at Villa Velha; marched from thence to Sarnadas, and on the 22nd to Castello Branco. During this march intelligence was received of the storm and capture of _Ciudad Rodrigo_ by the British on the 19th of January.

On the 2nd of February, the NINETY-SECOND and other regiments under Lieut.-General Hill, were directed to return to Portalegre, where they arrived on the 5th of that month.

The strength of the first battalion at this period consisted of forty-three serjeants, sixteen drummers, and seven hundred and thirty rank and file. On the 4th of March the battalion marched to Alegrete, and on the following day to Albuquerque.

Previously to this time, a large quantity of artillery stores and the battering train had been embarked at Lisbon for the Mediterranean (as it was then reported), but the vessels put into the Bay of Setuval; the whole being landed at Alcacer de Sal, and conveyed up the Alemtejo, soon appeared moving on the plains in front and to the right of Elvas, in one long and continued chain towards the Guadiana. The army now became aware that the third siege of _Badajoz_ was to be undertaken.

Lieut.-General Hill’s corps marched from Albuquerque on the 15th of March, and arrived at La Nava on the 16th;—proceeded on the following day to Merida, where some officers and men of the enemy were made prisoners. The division continued its march to Almendralejos on the 18th of March, where the NINETY-SECOND and other troops were stationed to cover the siege of Badajoz, before which ground had been broken on the previous day.

The division proceeded on the 21st of March from Almendralejos to Merida, and on the 26th advanced towards Medellin and Don Benito, from which places it forced the enemy to retire. Advices were here received, that the enemy, under Marshal Soult, was advancing to Llerena, with a view to relieve Badajoz, to the vicinity of which place the covering army was directed to retire.

On the 31st of March, the division proceeded towards Merida, where it arrived on the 2nd of April; it marched on the 5th to a position near Talavera Real. On the night of the 6th of April, Badajoz was assaulted and carried by the troops under the Earl of Wellington, Marshal Soult consequently retraced his steps towards Seville.

The battalion marched into quarters in Almendralejos on the 13th of April. A French force having made an irruption into the province of Beira, the Earl of Wellington, with the main body of the army, crossed the Tagus immediately after the fall of Badajoz.

On the 12th of May, the battalion marched from Almendralejos, and bivouacked near Merida; on the 13th near Arroyo-del-Molinos; on the 14th near Villa Mesias; on the 15th entered Truxillo, and marched again about midnight; on the 16th bivouacked near Jaraicejo, and on the following day proceeded to the mountains near Casas del Puerto.

On the 18th of May, the NINETY-SECOND marched at night to attack the enemy’s fortifications covering the bridge of _Almaraz_. The ruggedness of the footpath through the mountains, and the darkness of the night, presented serious obstacles to a rapid march; it was consequently daylight before the troops were formed in the Valle de Canas.

The fiftieth regiment and a wing of the seventy-first were formed in one column, and were destined to assault Fort Napoleon on the 19th of May; while the NINETY-SECOND under Lieut.-Colonel Cameron, and the other wing of the seventy-first, were formed in a second column, ready to support the attack on Fort Napoleon, or to carry the _tête-de-pont_ at the same moment, both columns being provided with scaling ladders.

Fort Napoleon was carried in gallant style by the column sent against it, the enemy flying from it towards the _tête-de-pont_; the NINETY-SECOND dashed forward and entered with him. The commandant of Fort Ragusa, on the opposite bank of the Tagus, being seized with a panic, had cut away the bridge of boats; many of his countrymen consequently were either drowned or made prisoners.

The attention of all was now directed to the passage of the river. Some of the NINETY-SECOND immediately leaped in, and swam to the opposite side, bringing the boats back with them.[14] Thus was the bridge secured, together with Fort Ragusa, which the enemy immediately abandoned.

The enemy attached great importance to his establishment at this place, which secured the only direct communication between his two armies, and its destruction had the effect of placing them several days’ march more distant from each other, and over mountainous roads hardly passable by artillery. The works and bridge at _Almaraz_ having been destroyed, and about five hundred prisoners secured, the troops returned to Jaraicejo.

To commemorate the gallantry of the NINETY-SECOND in the above enterprise, the Royal Authority was afterwards received for the word “ALMARAZ” to be borne on the Regimental Colour and Appointments.

On the 21st of May, the troops marched to Truxillo, where they halted for two days. At this period intelligence was received that the French had pressed forward towards Almendralejos.

On the 24th of May, the corps under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill marched to a bivouac near Villa Mesias; on the 25th proceeded to the vicinity of Rio del Agua; on the 26th to near San Pedro, and occupied quarters in Merida on the day following.

The NINETY-SECOND marched from Merida on the 5th of June, and went into quarters in Almendralejos. On the 12th of June it marched to Fuentes del Maestre, and on the following day proceeded to Puebla de Sancho Perez. The enemy having moved from Andalusia in some force, evinced an inclination to bring on an action in this advanced position, probably to divert the Earl of Wellington from his operations upon Salamanca, with which place Marshal Soult had no direct communication since the loss of the bridge of Almaraz, and every movement in advance threw him farther from co-operating with Marshal Marmont.

The battalion retired to Los Santos on the 16th of June; on the 17th to Santa Martha; and on the 18th to a wood in front of Albuhera, where all the infantry under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill were assembled; some field-works were immediately thrown up to strengthen the position, and enable the Earl of Wellington, without apprehension for the safety of that corps, to prosecute his attack upon the enemy’s forts at _Salamanca_, which were captured on the 27th of June.

On the 2nd of July, the battalion advanced to Santa Martha; on the 3rd it marched to a bivouac near Villa Alva, where the enemy brought up some guns, and cannonaded the troops; on the 4th it bivouacked near Feria; on the 5th near Bienvenida; on the 6th near Villa Garcia; and on the 7th it entered Llerena.

The NINETY-SECOND marched from Llerena, by Arlones, on the 8th of July to Berlenga, where some cannonading and a cavalry skirmish took place, after which the enemy retired, and the battalion returned on the following day to Llerena.

The battalion again marched from Llerena on the 20th of July to Bienvenida, and on the following day to Zafra. The enemy at this time moved to his right, and had a force near Fuentes del Maestre.