[141, Sept 1808]

CHAPTER X

N September 7th a dispatch from England arrived at Lisbon, appointing Lieut.-General Sir John Moore[1] to command the whole army which was to co-operate with the Spanish troops in the north of Spain, consisting of 30,000 infantry and 5000 cavalry, with artillery; part of them coming direct from England, and the remainder to be regiments drafted from the army then in Portugal.  The difficulties of the British general were great; the roads through Portugal were very bad; the rainy season was setting in; transport was hardly to be obtained, because the Government had sent little money to pay for it; time pressed, for a great French army was crossing the Pyrenees.

Moore urged on the preparations, so that the headquarters with the main body quitted Lisbon on October 26th, and followed the road by Abrantes, Almeida, and Ciudad Rodrigo, while Sir John Hope’s Division marched by Talavera and Madrid.  Sir David Baird’s forces had landed at Corunna on October 13th, and were to co-operate with Moore in the north.

Meanwhile the 92nd had marched along the bank of the Tagus twenty and twenty-five miles every day, through a most agreeable country, but under a very hot sun, and, crossing the river at the town of Abrantes, arrived at Portalegre on the 11th October.

Mr Innes writes from Portalegre on October 24^th:—

We passed through some of the principal towns in Portugal.  They seem at present pretty miserable; war is the ruin of a country.  We had a great opportunity of seeing the country and the customs of the inhabitants; they put me in mind of the people of Scotland (as I have heard) twenty years ago.  We have [142, Oct 1808] received marked attention since we arrived in this town.  It is a considerable place, almost on the confines of Spain, and in time of peace it has considerable commerce and manufactures.  We are billeted on the natives, who are very civil, and we live like the sons of kings, but I am sorry to say not very economically; however, time passes agreeably.  We need something to recruit our spirits; we were very low when we landed at the idea of not being engaged, but the honour now awaits us.  The troops in Lisbon have been unhealthy, but “ours” has as yet been in high health and spirits.  We have not lost a man since we landed, and we are upwards of 1000 strong.  I rise at seven, breakfast at nine, read or walk about the town, dine at mess at three, parade at five, and since we came we have for the most part passed our evenings at the Convent of St Bernardo, one of the richest in Portugal.  Our music goes down, and we spend the night in dancing; in the convent there are several ladies for their education; I believe they are the finest women I ever saw.  There seems to be much trade with Ireland, and we have eaten Irish butter mostly since we landed.

On the 26th October the battalion moved from its very pleasant quarters, most of the women of the regiment being sent back to Lisbon.  The route was by Elvas to Badajos, where they entered Spain and passed the night in barracks, being received by the people with an enthusiastic welcome.

Captain Seaton of the 92nd writes from Elvas on October 31st:—

We are now under good officers, Moore and Hope, and having good heads of departments, there is no fear of the rest; the soldiers would fight the devil.  Our regiment march from Lucan on the 3rd, and all the army is now in motion, moving by parallel columns towards Valladolid; ours is the right division under General Hope.  We shall make a detour of sixty miles by being on the right.  We go on the great road leading to Madrid, and turn off forty miles from that capital, leaving it on our right.  We have underwent a great many hardships and privations already, and many more, of course, are before us, but we have the prospect of glory, which to a soldier is great.  John Bull is a queer genius and not easy pleased; a bloody gazette he likes, and I hope our exertions in Spain will be more satisfactory to him than in Portugal.  We have a fine army, well appointed and well disciplined, able and willing to perform exploits hitherto deemed impossible.

The next halt was at Truxillo, where an occurrence took place which gave the Gordons a good deal of annoyance.  Being the only regiment there that wore the Highland garb, the people, struck by its novelty, wished to know to what country its wearers belonged.  The 71st had lately been at Buenos Ayres in South America, where they had learned a little Spanish, and by way of a joke some of them said that the 92nd were bad characters, and that their dress was the mark of their disgrace.  The Spaniards, indignant at such a set of “Ladrones” being sent to their country, refused to have any dealings with them, the Mayor of the town declining even to furnish rations.  When this silly and mischievous report became known to the men through an interpreter, a deputation from each company, with the quartermaster at their head, went to the commanding officer and laid the case before him, telling him that they had been robbed of their honour, and that unless legal satisfaction was given them they would take the law into their own [143, Oct 1808] hands.  The commanding officer went to General Hope, who was at Truxillo, as was also the colonel of the 71st.  An inquiry was made, and the perpetrators of this foolish joke, which had led to mlore serious results than they probably intended, were punished;  and so ended an affair which might have resulted in a dangerous feud between two distinguished corps, who afterwards became fast friends, and stood by each other in all the combats of the Peninsular.[2]  When the inhabitants understood the truth, they did all in their power to show their regret at the treatment the Highlanders had received, making them free of their vineyards and winecellars.

At Navalcarnero the men were presented by the Military Junta with red cockades to show they had embraced the Spanish cause.[3]  Next day, marching through a fruitful district, they arrived at the Palace of the Escurial, which the men were allowed to visit, with its magnificent pictures and rich decorations.

While here the quartermaster was sent to Madrid, some twenty miles distant, to get a supply of shoes and necessaries, of which they stood in need; but owing to information received there (probably of the approach of the French), he had to return without accomplishing his purpose, and the men had to continue their journey in shoes worn to the welts.

Captain Seaton writes from Escurial:—

November 25th.

We entered Spain at Badajoz on the 2nd inst., and were received by the inhabitants with shouts of “Viva Gran Britannia,” “Viva los Ingleses,” etc.  I never saw people so completely enthusiastic as they are; even the women and young children join in the general cry.  We met with a great deal of hospitality from all descriptions of people; the poor were willing to give what little they had, and the rich were profuse, and heaped abundance of everything upon us.  We have had long and very fagging marches, yet, strange to tell, our regiment has not left a man behind from sickness or any other cause since we left Elvas.  This division will form a junction with Sir John Moore, who is at Salamanca with 15,000 men.  It is six days’ march from here.  We have to go over an immense mountain covered with snow.  There is no doubt but Bonaparte is in Spain.  So much the better, we all say.  We expect a general engagement a few days after our junction.  It will be a dreadful conflict; we are all anxious for it and in the highest possible spirits.

On the 20th November Sir David Baird had with great difficulty arrived at Astorga, four days’ march from Salamanca, so that the [144, Nov 1808] British army, only 30,000 men in all, was split into three divisions—at the Escurial near Madrid, at Salamanca, and Astorga, about eighty or ninety miles distant from each other.  The weather at this time was very severe and the marches long.  A more robust set of men never took the field; their discipline was admirable, and there were very few stragglers.[4]

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[The following table is contained in footnote 1 (Numbered 4, above), page 144.  It is inserted here in a slightly modified format]

Return of Sir J.  Moore’s Army, December 19th, 1808.  Adjutant-General’s morning state of that day:—

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Napoleon with 180,000 veteran troops was near Vittoria.  The French had, in the meantime, defeated and dispersed the Spanish armies at the battles of Espinosa, Burgos, and Tudela, and were rapidly concentrating on Madrid.  On the 2nd December Napoleon appeared before that city, and on the 4th it capitulated and was in the possession of the French troops. 

[145, Nov 1808] an operation which he foresaw would force Bonaparte to turn back in order to oppose the British, and would thus be a powerful diversion in favour of Madrid in case it held out, and of the southern provinces to enable them to rise and organise their forces.  He commenced his advance with 23,000 men against Soult, who commanded a division of the 200,000 men under Napoleon’s orders in Spain.  In case of the necessity of retreat, magazines were formed on the road to Lisbon, and at Benevente, Astorga, and Lugo.  On December 13th, the cavalry of the advanced posts surprised a body of French cavalry and infantry at Rueda, ki11ing or taking almost the whole number.  On the 14th, the news of the fall of Madrid reached the army by means of an intercepted dispatch from Napoleon.  At Toro, on the 16th, information was received that the Spanish General Romana, who had been invited to co-operate with the British, instead of doing so, was in full retreat towards the mountains of Galicia, his troops from hunger and fatigue having dwindled away to 8000 disheartened fugitives.  Nevertheless, the British forces continued to advance.  On the 21st December, the united divisions were established at Sahagun, at which town Lord Paget, with 400 Hussars of the 15th, had total1y defeated 700 French Dragoons, killing from 15 to 20, and taking 2 lieut.-colonels, 11 other officers and 154 men prisoners, in twenty minutes.[5]

 Sir John Moore’s plan was to move during the night of the 23rd, so as to arrive at the Carrion by daylight on the 24th, force the bridge, and fall upon the main body of Sault’s troops.  But on the evening of the 23rd, trustworthy intelligence was received that the whole French armies from various parts of Spain were in movement to crush the British.  Among the converging forces 60,000 men and 150 guns, having fifteen days’ provisions in carts, were reviewed on the 19th by the Emperor at Madrid, and on the evening of the 22nd, 50,000 of them were at the foot of the Guadarama Mountains.  Deep snow choked the pass, and after twelve hours of ineffectual toil their general reported the road impracticable; but Napoleon, rebuking him fiercely, personally urged on the columns, and the passage was effected amidst storms of hail and sleet, the cold and fatigue so intense that many soldiers and draught [146, Dec 1808] animals died during the two days the operation lasted.  On the 26th Napoleon was at Tordesillas.  “If the British pass to-day in their position they are lost,” he wrote; but Sir John Moore had become well aware that his position was untenable; without the aid of the Spanish armies, he would soon have been surrounded by the overwhelming legions of France.  He had, however, gained the political object of saving Andalusia by drawing the French power on himself.

Notwithstanding his rapid march, having scarcely rested night or day, Napoleon was twelve hours too late; the British were across the Esla!  Their heavy baggage and stores were removed to the rear, but the reserve, the Light Brigade and cavalry, remained at Sahagun, pushing their patrols up to the enemy’s lines, and skirmishing to hide the retrograde march.  On the 24th General Hope with two divisions fell back by Mayorga, and General Baird by Valencia de San Juan, where was a ferry-boat over the Esla, which he crossed on the 26th, and took post on the other side.  Moore with the reserve and light brigades followed Hope’s column to Valderas.

Sergeant Robertson’s journal gives some account of the particular movements of the 92nd since we left them at the Escurial, from which quarter they resumed their route for Valladolid, crossed the Guadarama Pass, where, on the top of one of the mountains which divide the provinces of Old and New Castile, the figure of a lion is placed holding a ball in its paw.  They descended into Old Castile, but diverged from the road to Valladolid, as the French were advancing by that way towards Madrid.  So little information had the British, that the French advanced guard was in sight before they were aware of its approach.  In the evening they reached a village, the Alcalde (or Mayor) of which came with the inhabitants to light them in with torches, and they were put into a monastery for the night.  The Fathers, with the kindest intentions, lighted the charcoal stoves to warm them, and some of the soldiers, not understanding their management, were nearly suffocated, but recovered on being carried to the open air.  The battalion continued its march to Alba de Tormes, where they halted; while here they heard the report that they were surrounded by the French, and were to commence a retreat into Portugal.  This report was contradicted, but as the men had no map, they did not know whether they were advancing or retiring.  Continuing their movement toward Burgos, they met at Toro a party of dragoons belonging to General Baird’s Division lately arrived from Corunna, who had just had a skirmish with the enemy, and had taken some waggons of stores which they were escorting.

On December 24th some of the sergeants had an exciting [147, Dec 1808] adventure at Villada, where they had been sent on in advance of the battalion to draw billets.  On entering the little town they found it occupied by a patrol of French cavalry.  Sergeants did not carry firearms; there were only six or seven of them armed with their pikes and claymores.  Like true soldiers they never thought of retiring to wait till the troops came up, but adding Scottish caution to British bravery, they went warily.  It was market-day, and the town full of people, who did not know to which side the Highlanders belonged, so all was quiet on their part.  Finding that the Frenchmen, unaware that any Britishers were within miles, were regaling themselves in a wine-house—their horses being tied to the rings which were, and in parts of the Continent still are, commonly placed in the wall for that purpose—the plucky sergeants, quietly keeping the side of the causeway, reached the tavern; and it was only when they had the bridles in their hands that the astonished dragoons, hearing some noise, looked out to find their steeds in the possession of men in feathered bonnets and kilts!

The Frenchmen had their carbines with them, but the sergeants ‘took the first word o’ flytin’,” rushed in and disarmed them; and though a few hurried shots and many oaths were discharged at them, non of them were hurt, and they took the patrol—a n.c.  officer and  five privates—prisoners with their horses.  When the Spaniards saw what they had done, they seemed frantic with joy, and gave the sergeants anything they liked, bringing them warm gloves, as it was very cold.

When the troops came up to Villada on the 24th, they were much fatigued on account of the state of the roads, which were deeply covered with snow.  The men were ordered to clean themselves, as they were expected to halt for some time; but all of a sudden, the same evening, they were ordered to fall in in marching order.  Columns were formed outside the town, ready for an expected engagement.  It was a beautiful moonlight night, but so cold that they could only keep warm by walking about till morning, but “every heart beat high with the thought that we were to measure arms with Napoleon.  The notion entertained by the British army was, that the great victories gained by him had  been over raw and undisciplined troops.  Every man felt confident of his own prowess when compared with a French soldier’s, and nothing was more earnestly wished than an opportunity of engaging, and an order for battle.”

Such being the spirit of the British rank and file, one can imagine their surprise and mortification when a Staff officer arrived with an order to prepare to return to England.  All the horrors  of a retreat of several hundred miles over bad roads in winter weather appeared to their minds.  “All ranks called out to stop and fight and not to [148, Dec 1808] run away (as we termed it), which would be a disgrace to the British army.”[6]  The troops were in the highest state of vigour and spirits, and an unbroken series of brilliant successes at the outposts had given rise to an unbounded confidence in their own prowess, likely to have produced glorious results, if not met by overwhelming odds.[7]  But they were not aware, as their general was, that such absolutely overwhelming odds were against them.

By this timely retreat Sir John Moore reached Benevente, and the hazardous operation of crossing the swollen torrent of the Esla, over planks laid across the broken arches of the bridge of Castro, was successfully performed in the dark by General Craufurd with the rear guard, not, however, without fighting, in which the Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard rode close up to the bridge, and captured some women and baggage.  Instances occurred of great bravery and devotion on the part of soldiers of the rear guard.  Napier tells of two.  John Walton and Richard Jackson were posted in a hollow road beyond the bridge, at a distance from their picket.  If the enemy approached, one was to fire and run back to give notice if they were few or many; the other was to maintain his ground.  A party of cavalry following a hay-cart stole close up to these men and suddenly galloped in with a view to kill them and surprise the post; Jackson fired, but was overtaken and received twelve or fourteen wounds in an instant; he came staggering on notwithstanding his mangled state and gave the signal.  Walton, with equal resolution and better fortune, defended himself with his bayonet, and wounded several of his assailants, who retreated leaving him unhurt; but his cap and knapsack, his belts and his musket, were cut in about twenty places, his bayonet was bent double, his musket notched like a saw from the muzzle to the lock.  Jackson escaped death during the retreat, and finally recovered of his wounds.

Again, at Benevente several thousand infantry slept in the long galleries of an immense convent; the lower corridors were filled with the horses of the cavalry and artillery, so thickly packed that it was scarcely possible for a single man to pass between them, and there was but one entrance.  Two officers returning from the bridge, being desirous to find shelter for their men, entered the convent, and perceived with horror that a large window shutter being on fire and the flames spreading to the rafters above, in a few minutes the straw under the horses would ignite, and 6000 men and animals would inevitably perish in the flames.  One of the officers (Captain Lloyd of the 43rd), a man of great activity and presence of mind, made a sign to his companion to keep silent, and springing on to the nearest horse, ran along the backs of the [149, Dec 1808]others till he came to the flaming shutter, which he tore off its hinges and threw out of the window; then, returning quietly, awakened some of the soldiers and cleared the passage without creating any alarm, which, in such a case, would have been as destructive as the flames.[8]

 The army remained two days at Benevente, and as few of the stores collected there could be removed, after supplying the immediate wants of the troops the rest was destroyed.  Meanwhile the 92nd, with Hope’s Division, had commenced their retreat on Christmas Day, and marched by Mayorga, where, arriving after dark, they found the doors and windows barricaded by the inhabitants, who would not let the men in or sell them food.  Irritated by such inhospitality on a winter night, they broke open the doors, and so frightened the people that the news, spreading from village to village, had a bad effect on the feeling of the country people towards them.  Spanish enthusiasm, in the north at any rate, had evaporated, says Dr Neales; the people of Mayorga would render no assistance, and were too ignorant to know why we were in the country.

At Valderas they were put in a convent, and no one was allowed to go out.  At Benevente they lay where they could on the stairs and passages of the great convent described above.  Here they got a supply of shoes and blankets, and hardly had they marched, when the rear and baggage guards were skirmishing with the enemy’s cavalry; “but,” says Sergeant Robertson, “when they came on, our dragoons showed that though retreating, it was not from fear.”

The discipline of even the best regiments had become relaxed, and disorders equally fatal to the army and to the inhabitants had commenced.  At a miserable little village where they were quartered after leaving Benevente, some of the Grenadier Company of the 92nd, either from carelessness or wanton mischief, set fire to a house, and the whole village was burnt down; but as the French were close upon them, there was no time to investigate and bring the perpetrators to punishment.  On the battalion overtaking the troops in front of them, they found them engaged in destroying a quantity of stores; among the rest was a cask of rum.  A young man named Bruce got drunk, fell into the cask and was dead before he could be extricated.  Their next quarters were at Bembibre.  Here in many of the houses there were Spanish soldiers dying or dead of a fever, which two of the regiment caught and died; but the great wine-vaults of this place proved more fatal to the army than either sword or sickness; drunkenness appeared in its most frightful colours, and when the rear guard arrived with unbroken ranks, they had to force their way through a crowd of [150, Dec 1808] British and Spanish soldiers, stragglers from many regiments, who reeled out of the houses, or lay on the roadside, an easy prey to the enemy’s cavalry, who thundered in close pursuit.[9]  The inclemency of the weather and rapidity of the retreat had diminished the strength of the soldiers, while their spirit had been depressed by the thought of retiring before the enemy.

A 92nd pensioner used to relate that at one halt a man, overcome by wine and fatigue, went to sleep close to the fire and was fearfully burnt before his comrades noticed that he had rolled into it.  However, he was put into a sick-cart and finally got safe home to Badenoch.

On the 1st January 1809, Napoleon took possession of Astorga.  On that day, 70,000 French infantry, 10,000 cavalry, and 200 pieces of artillery were there united.  The congregation of this mighty force, while it showed the power and energy of the French monarch, attested also the genius of the British general, who with a handful of men found means to arrest the course of the conqueror, and to draw him with the flower of his army to this remote part or the Peninsula, at the moment when Portugal and Spain were prostrate beneath the strength of his hand.  “That Spain being in her extremity, Sir John Moore had succoured her, and in the hour of weakness intercepted the blow which was descending upon her, no man of candour can deny.”[10]

In ten days Napoleon had brought this great army from Madrid to Astorga, 200 miles over snowy mountains, and his action was the greatest compliment that he could pay to the prowess of the British troops, and demonstrated the importance of the stroke delivered by their commander.  While Napoleon was riding with the advanced posts in the pursuit, he was overtaken by a courier.  The dispatch brought him intelligence of the accession of Austria to the European confederacy.  He at once handed over the pursuit of the British to Soult, and returned to France.

The Gordons spent New Year’s Day 1809 in anything but a cheerful manner; marching towards Villafranca, their clothes worn to shreds, their shoes and hose worn out, officers and soldiers over-run with vermin, bearing alike the extremities of cold and hunger.  At Villafranca they lay in the stables of an inn, and the straw and soil seemed to the tired soldiers so comfortable and warm,  that it required all the authority of their officers to get the men to move.  Sir John Moore was constantly with the rear guard, doing his best to arrest disorder and protect the retiring columns.  At Calcabelos, some miles east of Villafranca, a combat took place, in which.  the pursuers were repulsed with the loss of their general, Colbert, and several hundred men.  Whenever the British soldiers found themselves [151, Jan 1809] before the foe they pulled themselves together, and the rear guard, being constantly in that position, retained their discipline.  “The conduct of the soldiers generally had been good, but at Villafranca it became extremely bad, and in order to check outrages it became necessary to make an example.  Three soldiers of the 7th Hussars had been detected in the act of breaking open a box and stealing wearing apparel of the inhabitants.  These poor fellows drew lots, and one was shot; he had previously been a good soldier.”[11]

From Villafranca to Lugo is seventeen leagues (more than fifty miles), over an immense mountain.  Hundreds of stragglers who were weakened by their excesses at Bembibre and Villafranca died or were taken or shot by the enemy; want of shoes caused many to fall behind or loiter in the villages, where they were taken; want of rest, want of food, wretched roads, and heavy rain or snow filled up the sum of their miseries.  The rear guard found houses filled with stragglers of various regiments, who would not or could not come on.  An officer telling them the enemy would certainly shoot or take them, they said, “You may shoot us, sir, or they may shoot us, but we cannot stir.”  Fine fellows, with bleeding feet, totally incapable of keeping up, others whose spirit was better than their strength striving to the last to join their battalions; women knee deep in mud crying piteously for help which could not be given.[12]  Sergeant Robertson says that on the mountains they found the carriage of the paymaster-general, whose wife was with him, hopelessly stuck in the mud.  The Highlanders had often envied this comfortable conveyance, drawn by good English horses, as they had to open our on the march to let it pass; now it was left on the road, and the lady and her husband had to tramp on as best they could.  At Nogales they passed the military chest, which the oxen could drag no further, and rather than let it fall into the enemy’s hands, the casks containing £25,000 worth of dollars had the heads knocked out and were rolled down the precipice into the wooded ravine below.[13]  On the roadside a soldier’s wife was lying newly delivered of a fine boy—the mother was dead.  A woman of the 92nd took up the helpless little one.  Several men of the regiment were made prisoners this day; the next day the weather and roads were both better, and they arrived at Lugo on the 4th January.[14]

At Lugo the troops got two days’ rest, and Sir John Moore gave [152, Jan 1809] a severe and just rebuke in General Orders to the officers and soldiers for the previous want of discipline, and at the same time announced his intention to offer battle.  “It has been well said that the British army may be gleaned in a retreat, but cannot be reaped; whatever may be their misery, the soldiers will always be found clean at a review and ready at a fight.”[15]  As if by enchantment disorder ceased, faces brightened, arms were cleaned, stragglers came up, and 19,000 men bivouacked in order of battle in a strong position in front of the town, ready and willing for the fray.[16]

The Gordons, who were lodged in a convent at Lugo, had just got a ration of flour served out, but before they had time to make scones, they turned out and formed in a field to the left of the road in front of the town, where they remained the night.  “Everyone,” says Duncan Robertson, “was happy that we had got the French in line, as we longed very much to fight, and abhorred the thought of running away, as we had been doing for some time past.  About ten o’clock next morning, as the rain was beginning to fall, the French extended their line and beat the charge.  They occupied a ploughed field, and we were posted on a heath, a small river running in the hollow between us.  A farmhouse lay at the foot of the rising ground, having a few stacks of corn about it.  The company to which I belonged was ordered to take possession of it, and General Hope accompanied us.  While moving down, the French fired one of their cannon, the ball falling close beside us, when the general, good humouredly, took off his hat and saluted the gunner; as there was only one subaltern with the company, I got command of a section.  When we came to the house we found a party of the French there before us, and a strong reinforcement coming to their assistance.  However, they did not think fit to wait and receive us, and after a few rounds on both sides they fell back, and we occupied the farm, but were not allowed to remain in quiet possession; as the enemy came upon us in overpowering numbers, we fell back the breadth of a field, and posted ourselves behind a stone wall, from whence we opened fire.  The French attempted to charge us, but were driven back.  On our left was a cart-road between two high hedges, and while the party in front were keeping us in play, about forty went up this road, while those in front made a feint of retiring so as to decoy us between two fires.  I happened to look round hoping for help, when I saw the other party of the enemy forming at the head of the field not fifty yards from us.  It struck me at once to get into the lane and cut them off from their own line; [153, Jan 1809] my section jumped into the road, formed, and prepared to charge; when they saw this they ran down on us, we gave them a volley, and eighteen fell killed and wounded.  On seeing the fate of their comrades, twenty-two laid down their arms and were taken prisoners.  Another detachment came to the rescue, and the sergeant commanding it got hold of one of our men, when I leaped back and drove my pike through his body; the others ran off.  We were now thoroughly drenched with rain, and when night came we were relieved by an equal proportion of the regiment.  A number of apples were found in the farmhouse, which were greedily devoured.  In the evening we got our beef served out, but having neither bread nor salt, it made rather an unsavoury supper.  Although the weather was cold, we slept very comfortably beside large fires we had kindled in the open air.”[17]  The above experience of one company probably gives a fair idea of that of the battalion, and of the army generally.

On the morning of the 7th January, Marshal Soult had arrived at the head of some 12,000 men.  His troops had suffered by the rapid marches, and he waited till his columns came up, to form them in order of battle along a strong mountainous ridge opposite the British.  As he was prevented by the ground from seeing what numbers were opposed to him, he advanced some troops and guns, and opened fire on the centre, which was silenced by a reply from fifteen pieces.  This satisfied him that he had more than a rear guard to deal with.  He then made a feint on the right, and sent a column of infantry and five guns against the left.  They were gaining the advantage over our outposts when General Moore arrived, rallied them, charged and broke the adverse column, with an estimated loss to the French of between 200 and 300 men.  It being evident that the British meant battle, the Duke of Dalmatia (Soult) hastened the march of the divisions in his rear, and at daybreak on the 8th the two armies were still embattled, but Sault deferred the attack till the 9th.  The British impatiently awaited the assault, and blamed their adversary for delaying the contest; but darkness fell without a shot being fired, and with it fell the British general’s hope to engage his enemy on equal terms.  What was to be done?  His army had been sent to assist Spain, but the armies of that nation had been defeated before he could arrive to their assistance.  There was but one day’s bread for his army at Lugo, no transport for reserve ammunition, no hospitals or provisions, no second line.  He was in a position to fight one battle for the purpose of defeating his enemy and being allowed to embark without further molestation; two battles, even if victorious, would [154, Jan 1809] have been destruction.[18]

For two whole days Sir John Moore had offered battle, which was sufficient to rally the troops, restore order and preserve the reputation of the army.  Marshal Ney with his column of the French army might soon turn his position; it was impossible to remain longer at Lugo.  The general determined to decamp in the night, and by stealing a march to leave Soult so far behind as to allow the British troops to reach their ships at Corunna in peace.  He ordered the fires to be kept bright, and exhorted the troops to make a great exertion, which he trusted would be the lasat required of them.  The country immediately in rear was intersected by walls and intricate lanes; precautions were taken to mark the right roads by placing bundles of straw at certain distances, and officers were appointed to guide the columns; but just as the army started, a terrific storm of wind and sleet blew away the marks, and the guides lost the direction.  Two of the divisions lost their way and at daybreak found themselves still near Lugo.  Fatigue and depression of mind, together with the want of shoes, made stragglers numerous.  The general of a leading division, thinking to relieve his men during a halt in the night, unfortunately desired them to take refuge from the weather in some houses a little way from the road.  Complete disorganisation followed this imprudent act.[19]  From that moment it became impossible to make the soldiers of the division keep their ranks; plunder succeeded, the example was infectious, and what with real suffering and evil propensity, encouraged by this error, the main body of the army arrived at Betanzos on the evening of the 9th in a state very discreditable to its discipline.[20]

On the 10th the enemy’s cavalry skirmished with the troops who were destroying the bridge of Betanzos.  Moore now assembled the army in one solid mass.  They had lost more men in the retreat from Lugo than in all the rest of the retreat; still, when the French cavalry appeared, a body of stragglers, of whom a sergeant took command, defended themselves in a rather open country against [155, Jan 1809] 400 horsemen, who were following and skirmishing with them.[21]  On the afternoon of the 11th the army arrived at Corunna, after an orderly march under the personal direction of the Commander-in-Chief, demonstrating that inattention and want of experience in the officers was the true cause of the disasters which had afflicted the army.

The Gordons spent a miserable night after leaving Lugo, and next day rested at noon, cold and hungry, on a heath, the men pulling turnips to eat.  At evening they resumed their dreary journey, the men lame and footsore, many of them marching in excruciating pain; others, however, had made sandals from the skins of cavalry horses that had been shot; Sergeant Robertson’s journal mentions this, and a pensioner in Badenoch, named John Cattanach, said that he and many others made “cuarans,” as used in the Highlands, when their shoes were done.  Another old man said he saw officers almost barefoot.  On this march the wife of Sergeant Charles MacGregor, with her three boys, who were carried in creels on a donkey, fell out of the line and were never more heard of.

The battalion arrived at Betanzos in miserable plight, officers and men half asleep as they rode or walked along, the colour of their clothes hardly distinguishable through the mud with which they were encrusted.  They went into good quarters in the suburbs of Corunna, where they lived in plenty and were supplied with ammunition.  When the roll was called they were over 190 men short of the number who marched on Christmas Day.  Of these, however, many rejoined at Corunna, others made their way into Portugal and joined the troops left there; the rest had been killed or taken by the French, and some of them were never heard of again.[22]  The army had marched about 300 miles since December 24th.

It had been at first the intention to embark at Vigo, where the transports had arrived.  The general, as soon as Corunna had been decided on, ordered them round to that place, but contrary winds detained them, and thus the last exertion made by the army was rendered fruitless.  When the troops reached the heights from which Corunna is visible, all eyes were directed to the bay, hoping to see the friendly fleet, but they were doomed to disappointment—nothing but a few coasters were in sight.

As the various brigades came up they were distributed in the town and at the village of El Burgo, and Moore at once caused the defences to be repaired and strengthened.  The inhabitants, to [156, Jan 1809] their honour, cheerfully joined in the work, in bright contrast to the apathy latterly shown by most of their countrymen.  A large magazine was found in Corunna containing arms, ammunition, and stores, which had been sent from Great Britain to the Spaniards months before, and which were lying unused by a nation invaded by 300,000 enemies, and possessing 100,000 soldiers unclothed and unarmed,[23] a notable instance of the improvidence of the Spanish authorities.  Among these stores were many thousand new muskets, for which the British troops now exchanged their old rusty and battered weapons, which, with the fresh ammunition, rendered their fire very superior to that of the enemy in the ensuing battle.

At a magazine three miles from the town, 4000 barrels of powder were deposited, and a smaller quantity was in a storehouse at some distance.  To prevent these falling a prey to the enemy, they were both exploded on the 13th.  The smaller one blew up with a terrible noise that shook the houses in the town, but when the train reached the larger magazine there ensued a crash like the bursting of a volcano; the earth trembled for miles, the rocks were torn from their bases, and the agitated waters rolled the vessels as in a storm; a vast column of smoke and dust, shooting out fiery sparks from its sides, arose perpendicularly and slowly to a great height, and then a shower of stones, bursting out of it with a roaring sound, killed several persons who remained too near the spot.  A stillness only interrupted by the lashing of the waves on the shore succeeded, and the business of war went on.[24]

As the ground in front of Corunna is impracticable for cavalry, and as many of the horses left alive were foundered, these poor worn-out animals were reluctantly ordered to be shot; their riders, whom they had carried in the constant and successful combats and skirmishes, showed great sorrow at parting with their equine friends,[25] but it was thought better than leaving them to become draught horses to the French or to wear out their existence in a Corunna cart.  Of 751 horses the 7th Hussars took to Spain, they only brought 70 back to England;[26] of the number lost, however, some were drowned by the wreck of a transport.

On the evening of the 14th the ships from Vigo entered the harbour, and the dismounted cavalry, the sick, the women and children, and all the best horses, with fifty-two pieces of artillery, were embarked during the night, eight British and four Spanish [157, Jan 1809] guns being retained on shore.  Meanwhile the French had appeared, and some guns had opened on the English posts at El Burgo, but had been silenced by superior fire.  On the 15th, Laborde’s Division arrived, the French occupied the ridge enclosing the British position, and towards evening the pickets opposite the French right were actively engaged.  During the night Soult established a battery of eleven guns on the rocks which formed the left of his line of battle.  Laborde’s Division was posted on the right; Merle’s Division was in the centre, Mermet’s Division formed the left.  The position was covered in front of the right by the villages of Palavia Abaxo and Portosa, and in front of the centre by a wood; the left was strongly posted on the heights where the 11-gun battery was established.  The distance from the battery to the right of the British line was about 1200 yards, and midway the village of Elvina was held by the British pickets.

The late arrival of the transports, the increasing force of the enemy, and the disadvantageous nature of the ground made the difficulty of the embarkation so great, that several general officers proposed to the Commander-in-Chief that he should negotiate for leave to retire to his ships upon terms.  The army had suffered, but not from defeat; its situation was dangerous, but not desperate; Moore’s high spirit and clear judgment revolted at the idea, and he rejected the advice without hesitation.[27]

The encumbrances of the army having been shipped, all was prepared on the morning of the 16th to withdraw the fighting men as soon as darkness would permit them to do so unseen.

But a more glorious termination to their campaign awaited the British troops.  About two o’clock in the afternoon a general movement was observed along the whole French line.  The British infantry, 14,500 strong, occupied the inferior range of hills, the right was formed by Baird’s Division, and approached the enemy; while the centre and left were of necessity withheld in such a manner that the French battery on the rocks raked the whole line.  General Hope’s Division, in which were the 92nd,[28] was on the left, and occupied strong ground abutting on the muddy bank of the River Mero; the reserve was drawn up near the village of Airis in rear of the centre, and commanded the valley which separated Baird’s Division from the French cavalry.  These were kept in check by a regiment from the reserve, which thus became the extreme right of the army, and a chain of skirmishers connected this regiment with the right of Baird’s line.  These dispositions were as good as [158, Jan 1809] the nature of the ground would admit of, but the advantage was all on the enemy’s side.  His light cavalry, under Franceschi, reaching nearly to St Christopher, a mile in rear of Baird’s position, obliged Sir John Moore to weaken his front by keeping back Fraser’s Division till Soult’s plan of attack should be completely developed.  The only advantage on the side of the British lay in the new firelocks and fresh ammunition which many of them had received.

Soult’s attack began by a heavy fire of artillery, covering three solid masses of troops descending to the assault.  A cloud of skirmishers led the way and drove back the British pickets; the village of Elvina was carried by the first column, which then divided, one half attacking Baird in front, the other turning his right.  The second column made for the centre, the third engaged the left by the village of Palavia Abaxo.

The French guns overmatched the few British 6-pounders, and their shot swept the position to the centre.  Sir John Moore ordered General Paget to carry the reserve to where the detached regiment was posted, to turn the left of the French attack, and menace the great battery.  Then, directing Fraser’s Division to support Paget, he threw back the 4th Regiment, which formed the right of Baird’s Division, opened a heavy fire upon the flank of the troops penetrating up the valley, and with the 50th and 42nd, met those breaking through Elvina.  A severe scrambling fight ensued among walls and hollow roads.  A battalion of the Guards was brought up to fill the space left vacant in the line by the 50th and 42nd ; the latter, mistaking the general’s intention, retired, and at that moment the enemy being reinforced, renewed the fight, and Elvina became the scene of a second struggle; this being observed by the Commander-in-Chief, he caused the 42nd to return.  “Highlanders, remember Egypt!” he said, as they gladly advanced to the attack.

The line of skirmishers, supported by Paget’s Reserve, vigorously checked the advance of the enemy’s troops, while the 4th Regiment galled their flank; the centre and left of the army also became engaged.  Sir David Baird was wounded, and a furious action raged along the whole line.  Sir John Moore, while watching the result of the fight about Elvina, was struck on the left breast by a cannon shot, and was thrown from his horse; he rose to a sitting posture, his countenance unchanged and his eye still fixed on the regiments engaged in his front; when satisfied that they were gaining ground his face brightened, and he suffered himself to be carried to the rear by four soldiers of the 42nd and Guards.[29]  His [159, Jan 1809] shoulder was shattered to pieces, his arm hanging by the skin, the ribs over the heart broken, and the muscles of his breast torn into long strips.  As the soldiers placed him in a blanket, the hilt of his sword entered the wound, and Captain Hardinge, a Staff officer, attempted to take it off, but the dying man stopped him, saying, “It is as well as it is.  I had rather it should go out of the field with me,” and in that manner Moore was borne from the fight.

During this time the British were rapidly gaining ground; the reserve, overthrowing everything in the valley, and obliging the French Dragoons, who had dismounted, to retire, turned the left and approached the great battery.  On the left some companies of the 14th and 92nd carried Piedra Longa; the fight for Elvina ended in favour of the British, and at night the French were falling back in confusion.  Sir John Hope, upon whom the command of the army had devolved, gave orders to embark, and the operation was completed without confusion or difficulty.  The pickets kindled fires, and were themselves withdrawn at daybreak on the 17th.

Thus ended one of the most celebrated retreats in history, which remains an example of ability in the general and, the temporary indiscipline notwithstanding, of courage in his troops.  Soult (Duke of Dalmatia), one of the ablest of Napoleon’s marshals, said, “Sir John Moore took every advantage that the country afforded to oppose an active and vigorous resistance, and he finished by dying in a combat that must do credit to his memory.”[30]  This generous opponent erected a monument over Moore’s grave at Corunna.

Napoleon declared that his talents and firmness alone had saved the British army from destruction, and Wellington was of the same opinion.

Napier in his history attributes the want of discipline during part of the retreat to want of experience on the part of regimental officers and soldiers, and a n.c.  officer of the 92nd agrees with him when he says—”It is well known that a finer body of men (in appearance at least) never left the British shore.  No expense was spared to complete them with every requisite necessary for the expedition.  We were not inured to this sort of warfare, and did not know how to conduct ourselves.  The British soldier when at home has everything provided for him, and does not know how to live without all the conveniences to which he has been accustomed [160, Jan 1809]—and the consequence was, that when the army was reduced to live on scanty allowance, and to suffer privation to which it had not been accustomed, it went into disorder.  Not one in ten of us was used to campaigning, whereas the French had lately come from Germany, where they had been inured to hardship for some years.  They entered Spain as invaders, we as allies; hence, if provisions were to be got in any way, they were not deterred from taking them.”

In the battle of Corunna, the 92nd was posted on the left of the line near the sea, and protected by a steep hill in their front; as a battalion they were not materially engaged, but Lieut.-Colonel Napier (92nd) was field officer for the day in command of the outposts, of which a detachment of his regiment formed part.

Ensign Hector Innes thus describes what he saw when on picket with his company:—Our sentries were close to the French.  Colonel Napier sent me to General Hope, distant about two miles, to inform him of the local situation of our position, distant about three miles from our regiment and brigade.  I went accoutred with my trusty claymore and pistol, with my stockings all down.  I had to pass quite close to the enemy, and through a turnip field, which annoyed me a great deal more.  When I returned I found they had not attacked us, so Tulloch (his cousin in another regiment) and I sat down and ate some cold beef as salt as Lot’s wife, but we were soon roused from our meal by some shots which fell at our side, and my servant who had brought the dinner was mortally wounded.  The business began about half four, when the enemy rushed down instantaneously in crowds in all directions, firing smartly on the pickets (ours on the left).  For a while we withstood vigorously their attacks.  However, being overpowered by numbers, we retired with loss, and afterwards rallied and took post behind a hedge.  I do assure you we had some fun; you would have laughed had you seen how we scampered with Jack Frenchman at our heels; but fortune favoured us.  I commanded a few but trusty men, who after three hours were successful.  We charged through the village along with two companies of the 14th Regiment, who, I am rather piqued to find, get all the merit.  We certainly gave them a complete thrashing.  I had the curiosity to examine the enemy’s position, and was struck with astonishment to see the awful carnage; they were lying actually all above one another.”

Sergeant Robertson says that Colonel Napier was giving orders to carry the village, when a shot struck him in the groin; one or the men immediately bound up the wound with his shirt and carried him to the rear, but he died shortly after.  A letter from Ensign Innes mentions that he delivered the colonel’s sword to his [161, Jan 1809] mother.  “Although we were twice driven from the post we returned to the attack with redoubled fury, and at last retained it in defiance of all the efforts of the enemy to dislodge us.  Exasperated at being thus repulsed, the French sent down a strong reinforcement upon us to drive all before it, but General Hope, perceiving the movement, ordered two companies of the 14th to our assistance.  Then came the tug of war; there was little or no firing, but fair hand-to-hand fighting; night put an end to the contest, the French withdrawing from the village, while we remained masters of it.”

Captain Seton’s (92nd) account is short and to the point.  “The Battle of Corunna was bloody and bravely contested.  The French got a devil of a drubbing, though five to one.  As they were beat back, they always pressed forward with fresh troops.  Night put an end to the action.”

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