The American Sharpe Page 3
6th – 24th Blank
The route taken up country was rather unusual, most soldiers record sailing up the Tagus, landing in the vicinity of Santarem and marching from there. On this occasion the detachments sailed up the Atlantic coast of Portugal and disembarked at Figueira de Foz near Coimbra. The advantages of landing the troops further north are obvious, but were more weather reliant.
The reason for the delay in sailing is not made clear, but was probably because of storms or contrary winds. They eventually disembarked nearly three weeks later at Buarcos.
As they marched up country, the party would quarter in villages along the route each night. They had no tents; the officers found a room, often shared, in the few houses, no matter the state of disrepair, the men slept in the open no matter the weather.
25th Landed this day at about 12 o’clock at Buarcos in boats and marched to Figuera [da Foz] which is a nice little town. We had excellent quarters.
26th Remained all day in Figueras, rainy.
27th The whole of the detachments under the command of Captain Percival of the 9th Regiment8 marched this morning at 9 o’clock to Montemor [o-velho] 3 leagues. The baggage and such men as were unable to march went up the Mondego in boats. The day was fine, although the roads were bad from late rains and the country was very beautiful.
28th At the same hour we marched to Tentugal 3 leagues.9 Good quarters, the people exceedingly civil.
29th To Coimbra 2 leagues, rainy weather, it was a long time before the men got into quarters or the officers got billets. Dined with Stokes10 & Coane,11 the former here on command,12 the latter sick.
30th Halted all day, bought a baggage ass for 18 dollars.
31st The detachments under the same officer set off at 9 o’clock this morning for Chao de Lamas.13 It was a very long march but through a most beautiful country. We did not get into Chao de Lamas until after dark, there is only one inhabited house in the place, all the officers were in it; very cold night hard frost. My baggage did not come in tonight, felt the want of my boat cloak and provisions.
January 1812
1st Marched to San Miguel de Poiares through [via] Miranda [do Corvo], met my baggage on the way, fine frosty weather.
2nd To Moita [da Serra] a wretched little village.
3rd To [Vendas de] Galizes, the head quarters of the Waggon Train14 being here and the place full of them I went to Vila Pouca [da Beira] a village about 2 miles English to the right of the road, where I got a very good quarter. It is a very nice little village with a convent of nuns in it.
Captain Percival with his detachment left us here to join his regiment, the division being about 60 miles from here,15 the next senior officer was Lt Fraser of the 79th.16
4th Halt, rainy.
5th To Maceira17 3 leagues.
6th To Sao Paio 3 leagues on the march, I shoved on before the detachment and missing my road went through Gouveia a nice looking town situated on the side of the sierra which is a branch of the Sierra d’Estrella, got good quarters at Sao Paio though a poor village.
7th To Celorico [da Beira] a dirty uncomfortable village, it being full of sick & of officers on command, I was glad to get into a wash house.
8th Halt.
The party was now approaching their various regiments and they split to go their separate ways.
9th The 79th18 & 26th19 Regiments having been sent from the 1st Division to Viseu on account of being sickly, Lt Fraser the officer commanding the detachments went back to join his regiment, each officer got an independent route here. I with my party marched this day to Guarda, a more fatiguing march on account of the mountain on which Guarda is situated being so steep. It is the coldest place I ever was in and is I believe reckoned the highest city in Europe. The weather is now clear and frosty.
It now became clear that they were nearing the front line and that the army had moved out of winter quarters and had suddenly moved to snatch the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo from the French before their main army could react to this unexpected attack.
10th To Pega,20 a small village, I today heard cannonading and heard some report of Lord Wellington besieging Ciudad Rodrigo.
11th To Sabugal, I here heard for certain that Lord Wellington is besieging Rodrigo. Since I marched in here, part of the 7th Division being General Alten’s headquarters have arrived here.
12th Through Alfaiates & Forcalios to Casillas de Flores on the frontier of Spain, a very long march. The troops in Sabugal & General Alten’s headquarters marched to Alfaiates. My baggage did not come in tonight.
13th My baggage came in this morning about 9 o’clock, just as I was about to move off. Smith21 and Grey22 rode in to the village and we went on together to El Bodon where we found the 2nd Brigade of the Light Division and General Craufurd’s headquarters. Lord Wellington was at this time besieging [Ciudad] Rodrigo with the 1st, 3rd, 4th & Light Divisions, each division taking the duty for 24 hours, in turn. Our division had just come home. I was appointed to Captain Uniacke’s23 company the same day.
Chapter 4
Two Sieges in Four Months
Wellington had been making preparations to besiege the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo, which commanded the northern route into Portugal, for months. Siege guns, cannon balls and gunpowder were stockpiled surreptitiously and the troops quietly prepared fascines and ladders in readiness for the coming assault.
The divisions were put in motion in early January when Wellington judged the French army to be too dispersed to interfere within twentyfour days. By 5 January his forces were in place and despite the wintry weather, the fortress was fully invested by the 8th and the Redoubt Renaud was stormed that night.
14th The batteries opened on the town this day at 5 o’clock.
15th Blank
16th It being the turn of our division to take the trench duty this day, we marched in the morning before day break to relieve the 4th Division. The 1st Brigade went into the trenches in the morning and we relieved them about 5 o’clock. I was sent with the command of a party to fire into the breach1 and this night was the 1st time I ever saw a shot fired [in anger].
General Craufurd went in today with a flag of truce to the governor, summoning him to surrender, to which he returned a bravadoing [sic] answer that ‘he would be buried in the ruins first’ or something to that effect.
17th Marched home again to El Bodon. We this evening received an order to hold ourselves in readiness to march tomorrow to the trenches. All the ladders in this place have been embargoed today.
18th Did not march today but received an order to march tomorrow to the Convent of La Caridad and halt there until further orders.
The company James’ belonged to mounted the breach and turned right in an attempt to clear the ramparts of the enemy and reach the main breach which the 3rd Division was busy attacking. This movement was achieved successfully, but the explosion of a mine at the main breach changed everything.
19th Marched before day break to La Caridad where we remained for some hours. The officers and men of the forlorn hope and storming party volunteered here2. We then moved on to the camp ground near the trenches where we remained until dark, soon after dark we moved up to the convent close to the town from whence we moved on to the breach. There were two breaches, one was stormed by our division, the other by the 3rd Division, the division on duty in the trenches at the time. Poor Uniacke was blown up by a mine that was sprung near the larger breach.3 We remained in the town all night, which like every night was dreadfully cold. General Craufurd received a dangerous wound tonight4 and General Vandeleur a slight one.5
The rushed siege caused heavy losses at the storming. The Light Division suffered one officer and eleven men killed and eleven officers and ninety men wounded. The 95th, of which all three battalions had contingents present, suffered two thirds of this loss.
Private Edward Costello recorded the devastation at the main breach the following morning. ‘The sight was heart rending in the extreme. The dead lay in heaps, nu
mbers of them stripped. They displayed the most ghastly wounds. Here and there, half-buried under the blackened fragments of the wall, or reeking on the surface of the ruin, lay those who had been blown up in the explosions, their remains dreadfully mangled and discoloured. Strewed about were dissevered arms and legs.’6
20th Marched back to El Bodon, met the 5th Division on our way, marching to Rodrigo.7
21st – 23rd Blank
24th Heard today that poor Uniacke died this morning early.
25th Marched with the company and band to Galegos [de Arganan] to attend poor Uniacke’s funeral.
26th Received an order this evening to march tomorrow morning to Fuenteguinaldo.
27th Marched at 8 o’clock this morning, I was on baggage guard. Rained very [hard] and all day.
28th Blank
29th Were obliged to quit our quarters (Smith & myself) on account of the rain coming in through the roof.
30th – 31st Blank
Whilst encamped at Ituero, a court martial was held at Nave de Haver on 12 February on eighteen British soldiers who had deserted and were captured in Ciudad Rodrigo. The execution by firing squad took place soon after. The division formed three sides of a square, the fourth side formed by a large trench, in front of which the convicted men were arranged and shot by a firing squad. It is clear from the evidence of many that it was bungled and that many did not die instantly. It required the firing squad to reload to finish them off and the provost finished by discharging a pistol into each head. The bodies were then tossed into the mass grave and the men of the division marched past.
February
1st – 25th We remained all this time at Guinaldo and lived very well, the weather was for the most of the time fine and frosty. We had no marching or bother. The only time that we marched out of the place was one day that the division was ordered to assemble at Ituero [de Azaba] to be present at the execution of 9 men who had deserted to the enemy from this division and who were condemned to be shot.8 They were taken in Ciudad Rodrigo on the 19th of January. Colonel Beckwith9 joined the division during this period, and also a detachment from England for the 1st Battalion with the following officers, viz Austin10, Bell11 and [Jos?12]. The 1st Battalion were at this period in Espeja, Ituero [de Azaba], Campillo [de Azaba], Castillejo de Azaba & El Bodon.
Wellington now felt that the defences of Ciudad Rodrigo were repaired sufficiently that he could order the bulk of his army southward in an attempt to capture the significantly stronger fortress of Badajoz, which guarded the southern route from Spain into Portugal.
26th Received an order last night to march by a route which ends at Castelo do Vide. Marched this morning at daylight through Casillas de Flores and Forcalhos to Alfaiates 3 leagues, General Vandeleur here also.
27th Marched through Nave, Vila Boa & Sabugal to a small village called Vale Mourisco13 about a league beyond Sabugal which our regiment alone occupied.
28th Marched through Sortelha (an old Moorish fortification of very romantic appearance and situation) to Casteleiro 3 leagues. Sortelha is situated on the side of a steep rocky mountain, there is in it a castle of very romantic appearance, the country all about it is exceedingly wild rocky and uncultivated. We had good quarters at Casteleiro, having lost our mess mule at Guinaldo. We bought a mule here for 56 dollars. 52nd & head quarters at Sortelha.
29th Marched to Capinha 3 leagues, a good village.
March
1st Marched to Alpedrhina. I went on before the regiment to tell off quarters and the guide took me across the country without keeping any road. On reaching the top of the sierra which surrounds the immense plain in which Castelo Branco stands, I was delighted with the view which burst on me all at once, at a distance was seen Castelo Branco. The side of the sierra is well wooded and the whole plain exhibits a contrast of wildness and cultivation. I passed through a very good looking town called Val de Prazeres about 2 English miles from Alpedrinha, which is a very good town (we had excellent quarters there) and most beautifully situated. The whole brigade here.
2nd Marched through Lardosa to Alcains 2 leagues, the brigade marched together and were all in Alcains. I saw here for the first time a Portuguese funeral and a more barbarous unfeeling sight I have seldom seen.14
3rd The brigade marched to Castelo Branco 2 leagues, the 1st Brigade which had been since the commencement of the march moving on a different road marched in here today.
4th The 2nd Brigade halted all this day in Castelo Branco, the first brigade marched this morning, it is a dirty uncomfortable town. There is the ruin of a castle on the highest part of the place. There is also a bishop’s palace & garden.
5th Marched this day to Retaxo where our regiment was alone (2 leagues), head quarters & 52nd at Sarnadas [de Rodao].
6th Marched to Nisa 5 leagues, crossed the Tagus by a bridge of boats at Vila Velha [de Rodao]. The road is very bad indeed and the pass of Vila Velha is I should think very formidable in a military point of view.
7th Marched to Castelo de Vide 3 leagues, the place our route ended at. When we arrived there 3 companies forming the left wing were halted and distributed in quintas15 about Castelo de Vide. The other 3 companies and the head quarters of the regiment went on to Escusa a village about 2 miles16 from Castelo de Vide.
Whilst here a court martial was held on Private Joseph Allman, who had been captured by Spanish guerrillas whilst attempting to cross over to the enemy near Salamanca. Private Costello was actually one of the guards watching over the prisoner the night before his planned execution. Allman drew his outstanding pay and bought wine for himself and his guards and swapped his shoes with another guard whose shoes were worn out saying ‘They will last me as long as I shall require them’. He was executed on the morning of 10 March by firing squad. Marching up to his grave in heavy rain, he discovered it to be already waterlogged, when he stated ‘Although a watery one, I shall sleep sound enough in it’ and declined a blindfold from the provost with ‘There is no occasion, I shall not flinch’. Having given a kind word to each of those destined to be his executioners, they fired and his body slumped into the watery pit. Although James makes little mention of this event, it is clear that it had a bad effect on the ordinary soldiers of the regiment.
8th – 13th We remained at this time at Escusa, a very nice little village where we had excellent quarters and were very comfortable indeed. We marched to Castelo de Vide one day to see the sentence of death put into execution on Joseph Allman of our regiment, who was sentenced to be shot for desertion to the enemy.17
I also walked frequently to Castelo de Vide which is a good town and clean for a Portuguese town, there is not however a very good market or any good shops and it has been an old fortified town, its situation however is not good. It has on one end of it a citadel cut off & fortified from the town itself, there are some old pieces of cannon lying dismounted on the ramparts, but none mounted in any part, the walls are breached and in ruins in many places. There is also a town called Marvao about 2 miles from Escusa very well worth seeing, indeed it is situated on a steep rocky mountain, on one side the mountain is very high and almost perpendicular on the other viz the side looking towards Spain. The ascent of the mountain though high is not so much so, or so perpendicular as the other, but the ground is so rocky that to make a trench would be next to an impossibility. There is in the highest part of the town a castle which completely commands the town and is in itself inaccessible (except on the side that opens into the town) from the situation of the mountain. On the part in which it is built the place appears to have been lately repaired, there are several pieces of cannon mounted, most of which are brass and have been brought from Campo Maior. Marvao is not however a regular fortification, there being no bastions, outworks &c (except in that part of the town which is most accessible, an outer wall with cannon mounted on it).
It is however from the peculiarity of its situation in my untutored opinion impregnable. It is garrisoned by a regiment of Portuguese militia. On ente
ring the town we were taken by the guard up to the governor’s house to obtain by permission to visit the place, he gave orders that the British officers should be admitted everywhere. There is from the castle a most extensive view.
I walked from Escusa to this place several times, it is a very beautiful walk and the place itself a great curiosity. We received a mail from England while here with the account of the capture of [Ciudad] Rodrigo], I received while here the 1st letters I have received since I left England.
14th Being Orderly officer today, I went out at 10 o’clock with the bat men for forage and on my return at about 2 o’clock I found that the regiment had marched to Portalegre. There were orders left for me to bring on the baggage to Portalegre, I got off at about 3 o’clock but did not get into Portalegre until after dark. I had an adventure on the road with two rascally Portuguese peasants. I remarked that the Portuguese begin to trim their vines about this time. Portalegre is a very fine town but on account of coming in so late at night and marching out so early the next morning I did not see so much of it as I wished. General Vandeleur who since the capture of Rodrigo has been suffering much from his wound & the rheumatism stopped here, the command of the division devolves on Colonel Beckwith.
15th The division marched soon after daylight to Arronches 4 leagues. Arronches is a dirty uncomfortable town, it has formerly been fortified but its situation in a military point of view is very bad.
16th The division marched to Elvas, 4 leagues, we here understood that some divisions were already encamped in front of Badajoz and that we are to march tomorrow morning for that place. Elvas is a beautiful fortification and the town itself well supplied with everything.
17th The division marched off at about 8 o’clock this morning to the neighbourhood of Badajoz, we crossed the Guadiana by pontoons and found the 3rd and 4th Divisions encamped near the town. The 1st and 6th divisions are in front under General Sir T. Graham18 and the 2nd & 7th under General Sir R. Hill,19 the 5th Division have not come from the north yet. We understood that we should get tents on the ground, we however have seen none yet. Towards evening the weather which since the commencement of our march has been very fine, changed and commenced raining. Balvaird20 was the only officer in the regiment who had a tent which every officer not on duty crowded into. Working and covering parties were warned early in the evening and the ground was broke as soon as it was dark. The garrison did not fire at all.