*CHAPTER XVI*
*The Battle of Corunna*
The Eve of Battle--Moore's Position--Wilkes is Himself Again--The FirstShot--Advance 95th!--Hand to Hand--Wilkes in Action--A Message toMoore--The Commander-in-Chief--A Hero's Death--"Alone with his Glory"
The great retreat was ended. Sir John Moore's army, after its terribleforced marches over 250 miles of wild country in the worst of weather,had reached the sea. Five thousand men were left behind in sick, dead,wounded, stragglers, and prisoners--a small proportion considering theawful experiences they had come through. The honours of the retreatbelonged to Sir Edward Paget and his regiments of the Reserve, who hadfought dogged and successful rear-guard actions wherever opportunityoffered, and had come through the whole campaign with little loss.
But the crowning achievement of the retreat was yet to be accomplished.Sir John's purpose had been to embark his army at Corunna on thetransports he expected to find awaiting him there, and to sail at oncefor home. If this had been effected the history of the British armywould have lacked one of its most glorious pages. When Moore arrived atCorunna, the expected vessels were still beating about under stress ofweather in the Atlantic. The embarkation was perforce delayed.Meanwhile the French were straining every nerve to catch their enemy; itwas more than likely that Soult would arrive in sufficient force tocompel Moore to fight, and the long-wished-for opportunity of a greatbattle with the French would come at last.
Corunna was packed with military stores. In readiness for anything thatmight befall, Moore gave his men new muskets and rifles to replace therusty weapons they had brought with them across the hills. He blew up alarge amount of superfluous ammunition, and then sat down in security toawait the arrival of the belated transports.
When, on the evening of the 13th, the Reserve fell back upon the mainarmy at Corunna, there was still no sign of the ships. The British armywas in position on a range of heights a short distance to the south ofthe city, and Paget's hard-wrought troops were ordered to occupy thelittle village of Oza, in the rear of the British line. There theyformed, for the first time since the retreat began, the real Reserve ofthe army.
During the next two days Jack had more than one opportunity of visitingCorunna, where the Spaniards were making vigorous preparations fordefence. For he was selected as usual by the general to arrange withthe native contractors for the supply of provisions to the division. Inhis journeys to and fro he supplemented the company mess with smallluxuries to which it had long been a stranger.
"I could almost forgive you your good luck, Jack," said Pomeroy atbreakfast on the 15th. "But you should have been in the commissariat;you are wasted as a fighting-man. Eggs, butter, cream, and coffee--why,the 52nd across the way are as green as our coats with envy."
"If we stay here much longer we shall be back again on the old rations,"replied Jack. "We shall soon eat up the native produce; only our ownregulation hard-tack will be left."
"How are they getting on down at the harbour?" enquired Shirley.
"Slowly, as far as I could see. They don't seem to have done much sincethe transports arrived yesterday. It is ticklish work embarking theguns. But they expect to be ready to-morrow; and I hear that theReserve are to be the first to embark."
"I don't like that," remarked Smith indignantly; "after we have bornethe brunt of the retreat, they might at least have let us see it throughto the end."
"Oh! as for that, we may take it as a compliment," said Jack with asmile. "It's a reward of good conduct. Our baggage is to be sent downto-night, we are to follow to-morrow at mid-day, and by the time theother divisions are ready we shall be snug and comfortable."
"It seems to me," said Pomeroy, pointing out of the window of the cura'shouse in which they were quartered, "that by this time to-morrow some ofus will be a little too snug."
Jack and the rest, after a hasty glance at the heights to which Pomeroywas pointing, could not help feeling that the prospect of an unmolestedembarkation was indeed becoming remote. They were now black with themasses of Soult's infantry.
Soult's progress during the previous two days had been very slow. Hefound the British strongly posted; and his experiences during thepursuit were calculated to inspire him with a wholesome caution whentackling, not as during the past fortnight an isolated rear-guard, butthe whole of Moore's army in battle array. There were three ranges ofhills, on any of which an army defending Corunna might be assured of astrong position. But two of these ranges were of too great an extent tobe held by Moore's little force of 15,000 men, and the British generalhad been obliged to content himself with occupying the innermost of thethree, extending over about a mile and a half of country to the south ofthe city. It would have been an entirely admirable position had it notbeen commanded at the right extremity by a hill of considerably greaterheight, and within easy cannon-shot, while beyond this exposed flank wasa stretch of open country extending to the gates of Corunna, andoffering the enemy a good opportunity of turning the whole position.But Moore had no choice; he knew the risk he ran, and relied on thevalour and steadiness of his men, who, now that their troubles wereover, had become cheerful, confident, and well-behaved British soldiers.And with the instinct of a great general he ultimately turned his veryweakness into a source of strength.
Throughout the day French troops continued to stream westward along thehills, and when night fell Soult had driven in the British outposts andwas in full occupation of the whole line of heights. There were soundsof incessant activity during the night, and at dawn on the followingmorning the British found that the enemy had dragged guns up the steeprocky eminence dominating their right wing.
For several hours after daybreak, on that 16th of January, the twoarmies stood fronting one another. Moore had sent all his cavalry, andmost of his guns, on board the transports, retaining only the infantryto fight Soult if he attempted to interfere with the embarkation.Hope's division, consisting of Hill's and Leith's brigades, occupied theextreme left of the British line, its flank resting on the river. Nextcame Baird's division, comprising Manningham's and Bentinck's brigades,the latter facing the little village of Elvina that lay at the bottom ofthe slope held by the British, but almost under the frowning heightsoccupied by the French batteries. On the Corunna side of the Britishposition, and protected by the crest of the hills, Catlin Crawford'sbrigade lay in support of Hope's division, while Warde's two finebattalions of Guards were posted a little farther to the right, ready toreinforce Baird.
Almost out of sight of the French, in front of the village of Oza, layPaget's Reserve, ready to be hurled upon any force attempting a turningmovement against Baird. It was so well concealed by the formation of theground that the French were not likely to discover its presence untiltheir movement was well developed. Some distance in Paget's rearGeneral Fraser's division occupied a low eminence outside Corunna, readyeither to support Paget or to hold in check the large body of Frenchhorse that was found to be threatening the right rear of the Britishposition.
Dinner-time came, and there was still no forward movement among theenemy. Moore concluded that Soult had made up his mind not to risk anattack, and consequently made preparations for completing hisembarkation. The reserve division, with orders to embark as soon as themid-day meal was over, grumbled while they ate their plentiful rations,even those from whom no murmur of complaint had been heard during thelean days of the retreat. Corporal Wilkes, whose courage andcheerfulness during the black fortnight had more than once earned him aword of praise from his officers, now made no attempt to disguise hisfeelings.
"I call it a shame," he remarked, gazing moodily up the valley to thedark masses on the heights, "that we should scuttle away without eventhe chance of a slap at 'em. Of course they'll come on as soon as theysee our backs, and of course there'll be another fight. Of course therewill. But where shall we be?--shut up with rats and cockroaches andshellbacks, and wishing we was at the bottom o' the sea. We'
ve beendoin' the worst of the work--there ain't no arguin' as to that--whycouldn't they let us see it out?--that's what I want to know."
The Battle of Corunna]
At this moment the order is given to march; the men shoulder theirrifles and sullenly tramp down the valley in the direction of theharbour. For weeks they have been straining all their energies to reachthe coast; now, when a few minutes' march will place them beyond thereach of their enemies, and ensure complete immunity from theinsufferable horrors that have dogged their footsteps during theretreat, their bearing is that of savage resentment.
Suddenly the dull boom of artillery is heard far up the valley; thedivision, as if at the word of command, comes to an instant halt, andthe men's faces clear as if by magic. Surely this must mean a fightafter all; they are to have their long-wished-for chance of coming togrips with the enemy. While they are thus waiting, anxious expectancyon every face, an aide-de-camp from the commander-in-chief dashes up atfull speed.
"There is a general movement, sir," he says, addressing General Paget,"all along the enemy's line. An engagement appears to be imminent. Thecommander-in-chief desires that you will return to the position you havejust left."
Never a general's voice rang out more thrillingly than when Paget gavethe order to countermarch. Never was an order received with more joy byofficers and men. In a few minutes the Reserve had regained its oldposition around the little village of Oza. There the eager troopsawaited, with what patience they might, the lurid moment that was tocompensate them for all their past sufferings and humiliations. Thismoment was some time in coming, but it came at last.
The brunt of the attack fell, as Moore had expected, upon Baird'sdivision. The guns from the opposite heights, completely outranging theBritish artillery, played upon Baird's front, and from thevantage-ground of the rocky eminence on his flank raked it from right toleft. Under cover of this artillery fire a great French column, precededby a swarm of skirmishers, swept down the hill, drove in the Britishpickets, cleared the village of Elvina of a company of the 50th, andadvanced up the slope held by Bentinck's brigade. A portion of thecolumn at the same time detached itself from the main body and movedround the right of the British position with the object of taking it inflank. Moore instantly seized the opportunity. Hurling the 42nd and50th regiments of Bentinck's brigade at the French front attack, anddriving home the charge with the help of Warde's two battalions ofGuards, he swung round the 4th Regiment on Bentinck's right to meet theflanking column, and ordered up Paget from behind the hill to take thisforce in its turn in flank.
The hour has struck at last! With a cheer the 95th, who are in the vanof the Reserve, dash forward in extended order across the valley, wherethey come into immediate contact with Lahoussaye's dragoons, who havebeen pushed forward on the French left to assist the turning movement.
The country, however, was far better suited for infantry than cavalrytactics; low walls and ditches broke up the formation of the horsemenand prevented them from charging with effect, while giving excellentcover to the Riflemen. The Frenchmen made a good fight, and there wereseveral fierce combats between knots of Riflemen and small isolatedbodies of horse; but the 95th pressed steadily forward, sweeping theenemy before them until the dragoons were driven back upon the slopes ofSan Cristobal, a low hill on the extreme left of Soult's position.There Lahoussaye dismounted his men and made a desperate effort to holdthe Riflemen at bay, while the infantry that had hoped to turnBentinck's flank were fighting a losing battle with the other regimentsof the Reserve. It was here that many who had come unscathed through theperils of the retreat fell under the withering fire of the troopers. Adismantled farmhouse, with some ruined out-buildings, stood facingCorunna some distance up the slope. Encircling it was a low stone wall;other stone walls, taking the place of the hedges in an Englishlandscape, radiated from it, dividing the surrounding fields, and theground on all sides was cut up by ditches and ravines. It was an idealposition for defensive tactics, and Lahoussaye's men, sheltered behindthe walls, made an obstinate stand against the advancing Rifles.
The task of clearing the farm fell to O'Hare's company. A roughcart-track led to a gap in the wall that had once been the gateway, nowblocked up by the French with heavy wooden beams.
"Now, Riflemen," cried Captain O'Hare, "you have your chance at last.Remember Bembibre!" and with a cheer he led the company straight at thegap. When the Rifles were within twenty yards of the walls they weremet with a murderous volley from the defenders, and there were many gapsin the line before the wall was reached. Then began a fiercehand-to-hand fight, in which every advantage was on the side of thedefenders. Again and again the Riflemen mounted the wall and swarmed upthe barricade, only to be thrust back by the sabres and clubbed carbinesof the troopers. Sergeant Jones, whom the loss of his wife had made adangerous foe for a Frenchman to meet, succeeded in forcing his wayacross, accounting for two of the troopers in his passage, but the manbehind fell to the pistol of a French officer, and before the sergeantcould be supported he was surrounded by the enemy and sank under a dozenwounds. Captain O'Hare, at the first assault, was stunned for a fewmoments by a blow from a clubbed carbine, Pomeroy received a cut overthe brow from a sabre, and others lay either dead or badly woundedwithin a few yards of the gateway.
Jack, on the right extremity of the line, had attacked the wall somefifty yards from the gateway, but the ground falling away steeply atthis point, the obstruction was even more difficult to scale than in thecentre. Three times he and Wilkes, although gallantly supported by theirmen, were thrust back after laboriously climbing the steep bank thatcarried the wall. He was about to make a fourth attempt when heobserved that a few yards to the right, near an angle in the wall, thestones showed signs of approaching collapse. The bank had given way atthis point, several huge stones had already fallen out of the wall,others were loose, and the mortar was crumbling.
"Corporal Wilkes, order six men to load and fire at any head thatappears above the wall. The rest go at them again. Bates, and you,Plunket, follow me."
Jack led the way to the weak spot in the wall, and directing the men towork as quietly as possible, began to remove the loose stones. As hedid so the surrounding blocks came away without difficulty, and in thecourse of a couple of minutes a hole some two yards wide and about ayard and a half high, extending half-way through the wall, was made justabove the bank. In the meanwhile Wilkes had led another assault up thebank, and sounds of fierce fighting still farther to the left provedthat a renewed effort was being made to carry the barricade. A glanceto his left showed Jack that the other companies were busily engagedwith a large body of Lahoussaye's horse, who had taken advantage of someopen ground to remount and threaten the regiment's flank.
Seizing a rifle dropped by one of his men, Jack ordered Bates andPlunket to make a simultaneous attack with him on the spot where theyhad broken half through the wall. Running up the bank, they put theirshoulders to the tottering masonry. The wall shook, then cracked, andfalling, fortunately for Jack and his men, inwards, left a gap a coupleof yards wide. There was a cloud of dust, through which Jack, followedby Bates and Plunket, dashed with a rousing cheer. The three men wereat once surrounded by twice their number of dragoons; but with theirrifles they kept the Frenchmen at bay, while Wilkes and the others,profiting by the temporary diversion, scaled the wall. "Come on, myboys!" shouted Wilkes. "What I"--crack on a Frenchman's head--"want toknow"--a second crack, and the big fellow burst through the Frenchtroopers, followed by several men of Jack's company. Thus reinforced,Jack led a vigorous charge; nothing could withstand it. The Frenchtroopers broke, and made a dash for their horses, tethered in the rearof the ruined farm, but in their flight they impeded one another'smovements, and only a few got away.
Meanwhile Smith, who in O'Hare's temporary absence was in command of thecompany, formed up his men on the far side of the farm, and continuedthe forward movement that had been for the moment arrested. Within afew yards of the farm they were
overtaken by General Paget, who gallopedup and said:
"Well done, Number One Company!" Then, after a careful examination ofthe ground in front, and of the retreating enemy, he turned to CaptainO'Hare, who had recovered from his blow and came up eagerly. "I think,sir, we hold them safe in this quarter. I shall be glad if you canspare me one of your officers. I have a message for thecommander-in-chief."
O'Hare, who, chafing at being knocked over, had remarked Jack's share incarrying the farm wall, beckoned him forward.
"Take one of the Frenchmen's horses yonder," continued General Paget,when Jack came up and saluted, "and tell the commander-in-chief that theenemy on this side are in full retreat. We shall continue to push themthrough the valley, and ought shortly to threaten their great battery."
He pointed, as he spoke, to the rugged slopes, now covered with a thickpall of smoke, on which Soult had massed his heaviest guns. Acontinuous dull roar came from the battery, from which the Frenchgunners were pouring shot after shot at the British infantry.
With a parting hint to Jack that the commander-in-chief would probablybe found with Baird's division, General Paget wheeled his horse roundand returned down the slope. In a few seconds Jack was in the saddle,jumping walls and ditches, and floundering through ravines towards thevillage of Elvina. The retreating French infantry, broken but not yetdispersed, barred his direct progress. He ploughed across the valley,finding terrible evidence of the bitterness of the struggle in thescores of dead and wounded dotting the fields from which the tide ofbattle had now ebbed, and spurred his horse to a hand-gallop up thegentle acclivity beyond. When he reached the crest, the whole battlewas spread like a panorama before him.
Far to the left General Hope's division was slowly pushing the Frenchback through the village of Palavea, from which they had driven theBritish outposts at the beginning of the battle. In the centre a severestruggle was being waged for the possession of Elvina, where Bentinck'sbrigade, after hurling back the frontal attack and driving the enemy upthe opposite slopes, was now with difficulty holding its own doggedlyagainst superior numbers. On the right the French flanking columns werebeing driven steadily through the valley by Paget's division, andFranceschi's dragoons were already retiring behind the great battery,where eleven guns at almost point-blank range were now tearing huge gapsin Bentinck's slender columns.
Jack had halted for a moment to get his bearings; he was beginning tomake his way down the slope towards Elvina when he caught sight of threeofficers on his left, galloping towards him on the crest of the hill.In the leading horseman, mounted on a cream-coloured charger with blacktail and mane, he instantly recognized Sir John Moore; the others wereofficers of the staff. Jack had eyes only for the general as thewell-known figure swept up at headlong speed to within a few yards ofthe spot where he had halted, then suddenly drew rein, throwing thegallant charger upon its haunches, with quivering nostrils and heavingflanks. Jack never forgot the picture of horse and rider at thismoment: the charger snorting with excitement, its eyes dilated, its earscocked forward, its hoofs ploughing deep furrows in the soft earth; therider, with eyes fixed searchingly upon the enemy, seeming to keep hisseat without conscious effort, his whole being concentrated in thelightning glance with which he took in every detail of the fight.
He was about to move away when Jack trotted up, saluted, and deliveredhis message. Sir John seemed too much preoccupied to notice who hisinformant was. After an instant's reflection he said: "Follow me, sir;I shall probably have a message for General Paget in the course of a fewminutes." Then, setting spurs to his horse, he galloped down the hilltowards Elvina.
As they approached the village the 50th Regiment, commanded by MajorCharles Napier, was making a desperate effort to retake the place. Theydrove the enemy at the point of the bayonet through the village streetand beyond some stone walls on the outskirts; but there the Frenchrallied, and, being reinforced from the slopes above, again advanced,capturing Major Napier, who was desperately wounded, and pressing hardupon the 50th regiment and the Black Watch, both of which were runningshort of ammunition. The 42nd, mistaking an order, began to retire.Then the commander-in-chief rode up, and addressing them said: "Men ofthe 42nd, you have still your bayonets. Remember Egypt! RememberScotland! Come on, my gallant countrymen!"
With a cheer the Black Watch returned to the attack. Moore followed thebrilliant charge with kindling eyes. "Splendid fellows!" he exclaimed.He was just turning to give Jack the promised message when a cannon-shotfrom the battery above struck him to the ground. For one brief momentit might almost have been thought that the hurt was a trivial one, forthe general, raising himself upon his right arm, continued to gazeeagerly and with a look of noble pride upon the struggle beneath. It wasnot until the success of his troops was assured that he sank back andallowed himself to be removed from the field. Four soldiers carried himtenderly in a blanket to the rear. No doctor was needed to tell thegrief-stricken bearers that the wound was mortal. The injured man knewthat there was no hope. They would have removed his sword; its hilt waspressing against the wound. "It is as well as it is," he said. "I hadrather it should go out of the field with me." As they carried himtowards Corunna he more than once bade them turn to learn how the fightwas going. They bore him to a house in the town; as he lay dying hismind was filled with his country and the commanders who had served himand England so well during the bitter days of the retreat. "I hope thepeople of England will be satisfied. I hope my country will do mejustice." He spoke of Paget, asking to be remembered to him. "GeneralPaget, I mean; he is a fine fellow." He left messages for all hisfriends, and in the midst of his agony mentioned for promotion severalofficers whose gallantry in the field he had noticed. He bore hisdreadful sufferings without a murmur. Only when he dictated a lastmessage to his aged mother did he show signs of breaking down. Andthus, nobly as he had lived, when night had stilled the sounds of warand the stars blinked over the awful field, the great soldier passedaway.
Jack had accompanied the bearers to the little room whither the generalwas carried, and remained for some time doing such small services asMoore's aides-de-camp required of him. When it was seen beyond alldoubt that death was very near, he was sent back to the battle-fieldwith the sad news. During his absence the fight had been raging withundiminished fury. The enemy were retiring; the British were pressingforward on all sides; and but for the lamentable event that had justoccurred it is possible that Soult's army would have been utterlydestroyed, for his ammunition was failing, and behind him his retreatwas barred by an impetuous torrent, spanned by only one narrow bridge.It was not to be. Sir David Baird, who would naturally have succeeded toMoore's command, had himself been wounded. Sir John Hope, to whom thecommand now fell, ordered the advance to be checked as the shades ofevening were falling. His decision was doubtless wise. He was not in aposition to follow up a successful action, for the cavalry and guns wereall on board ship. The advantage already gained secured the immediateobject for which the battle had been fought--the safe embarkation of thearmy.
When Jack, sad at heart, regained his regiment, below the great Frenchbattery, he brought no message from the commander-in-chief. What themessage would have been he could only guess. But he felt that had Moorelived, the 95th would have had stern work to do upon the rugged hillsabove. Sadly the army retired into its lines at Corunna; and as thelast shot from the French guns boomed across the valley, and thewatch-fires of the British pickets broke into flame on the heights, thebody of the noble Moore was laid to rest in the citadel, simply,peacefully, without pomp, amid a reverent silence.
Boys of the Light Brigade: A Story of Spain and the Peninsular War Page 19
