his despatch to the camp commandant helearned, to his astonishment, that the troops left behind at Burns Hillhad been hotly engaged with the enemy, who early in the day had attackedthe camp, and, though finally repulsed with heavy loss, had succeeded incarrying off a number of draught cattle.
In the hope of recapturing these cattle, a troop of the 7th DragoonGuards under Captain Bambric (a fine old officer who had fought at thebattle of Waterloo), and a strong party of the Cape Mounted Riflemenunder Lieutenant Boyes, had followed the daring Caffres into the bush,but, being attacked at a disadvantage by a vastly superior force, theyhad been compelled to retire, leaving their veteran leader _mort sur lechamp de bataille_.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
FIGHTING THEIR BATTLES O'ER AGAIN.
The sun had set and "retreat" long since been sounded when the escortreached Burns Hill, so that by the time Tom Flinders had reportedhimself to Captain Jamieson, had seen his horse fed, watered, and"fettled up" for the night, and had got rid of the traces of his arduousday's work, the officers of the various detachments in camp were alreadygathered round the big watch-fire, and were eating their frugal supper,talking over the stirring events of the day, or paying a soldier'stribute to the memory of their brave comrades who only the eveningbefore formed part of their circle, but who now lay stiff and stark inthe distant bush. Of those who had ridden in from Chumie Hoek the firstto join the group round the fire was Lieutenant S--, and he at onceproceeded to relate the gallant manner in which Tom had rescued FrankJamieson from the Caffres. Said he warmly: "It was one of the pluckiestthings I have seen for a long time. Young Flinders is a fine lad, andwill make a capital officer."
"He is a `chip of the old block,' as those of you who know MatthewFlinders will agree," put in Captain Jamieson, who had heard fullparticulars from his son. "I'm proud of him, I can assure you."
"And here comes the young hero!" exclaimed Mr S--as Tom walked up tothe fire. "We were just talking of you, Flinders," he added, slappingthe lad's shoulder. "By Saint George, sir, that cut you delivered wasworthy of Shaw the life-guardsman!"
"Sit beside me, Tom," said Captain Jamieson, making room for him."We'll find a bone for you to pick somewhere. I can't say all I wish tosay now," he went on in a low tone. "But you know how deeply I--eh, mydear boy!" And the old officer pressed his young friend's hand.
"Allow me to congratulate you on your debut in the battle-field, MrFlinders," called out Major G--, the camp commandant.
"My friend here has informed me of your gallant behaviour, and you maybe sure I shall report most favourably of you to the brigadier."
Our hero was quite taken aback at thus publicly receiving so much"kudos," and he felt not a little relieved when the conversation turnedfrom his personal exploits to matters of more general interest.
"The campaign has opened with some hard fighting," observed Major G--;"and I fully expect that Sandilli and his warriors will give usconsiderable trouble before we subdue them."
"If they attack us to-morrow on the line of march we shall have our workcut out for us," said another dragoon officer. "It will be no easy jobto guard the waggons with the force we have."
"No, indeed," responded an artillery captain, who had some experience ofSouth African warfare. "Thompson tells me that we have over a hundredbullock-waggons to escort, to say nothing of our guns and ammunitiontrain. We shall have to fight tooth and nail to take them through.What route do you propose to take, major?"
"Well," replied the major, "Jamieson, who knows the country thoroughly,advises me to follow the regular waggon-track--"
"_Ir_-regular waggon-track, major," laughed Mr S--. "The roads abouthere are not _macadamised_, though there's plenty of _metal_ on thesurface."
"Well, then, the _ir_-regular waggon-track that runs along the banks ofKeiskamma and skirts the high ground upon which the ruins of Fort Coxstand," continued Major G--good-humouredly. "It is a somewhatcircuitous route, but in this case the `longest way round is theshortest way there.' No doubt we shall have to fight over every yard ofthe ground when once we are across the river."
"'Pon my honour, Jamieson," struck in an old captain of the MountedRifles, "Sandilli promises to give Somerset as much trouble as your oldfriend Marshal Soult gave the Duke!"
"As the Duke gave Soult, you mean?" was the retort.
"By the way, Jamieson," said Major G--, "talking of Soult reminds me ofyour promise to give us an account of the part your old regiment playedat Albuera. Suppose we have it now? It is just the time and place foran old campaigner to `fight his battles o'er again.'"
A murmur of approval greeted the major's suggestion; and so CaptainJamieson, willing to accede to what was evidently the wish of hiscompanions-in-arms, thus commenced his "oft-told tale."
"The early spring of 1811 found me an `impatient patient' in the GeneralHospital at Belem, suffering from the effects of a dangerous gunshotwound received at Busaco during our retreat down the valley of theMondego. You must know that I was then colour-sergeant of the LightCompany of the --th Foot; and my regiment--which was attached toColborne's Brigade, 2nd Division--had marched in pursuit of Massena,who, having broken up his camp before Torres Vedras on the 2nd March,was retiring into Spain, laying waste the country as he went.
"Great was my disappointment at not being allowed to march with theregiment; for I began to fear lest my continued absence from the coloursmight lead my comrades to suppose that I had become a `Belem Ranger,'and did not intend to soldier any more. However, I was not detained inhospital very much longer, for at the end of April the doctorspronounced me fit for duty; and I was forthwith sent, with a large draftof men belonging to various corps, to rejoin the --th.
"After a fatiguing march the draft joined the 2nd Division at Albuera onthe 13th May, and to my great pleasure I found myself reposted to the`Light Bobs.'
"Marshal Beresford was then in command of the 2nd Division, GeneralRowland Hill, its proper leader, being away on leave. Colborne was ourbrigadier.
"Beresford had taken up a position on the heights of Albuera to coverthe siege of Badajos, information having been received that Soult (with19,000 veteran infantry, 4000 cavalry, and 40 guns) was advancing fromSeville to the relief of the beleaguered fortress.
"To oppose the French marshal, Beresford had 32,000 men of all arms; butof this number only 7000 were British troops, the remainder beingSpaniards and Portuguese under Blake and Castanos.
"On the 15th May Beresford took post on the Albuera range, about sevenmiles from the town and fortress of Badajos. This range extends forfour miles, and, being easy of ascent, is practicable for both cavalryand artillery. Along the eastern base of the hills flow the Albuera andits tributary the Feria, and between these two rivers is a wooded rangeof hills. This range Beresford most unfortunately neglected to occupy.
"The village of Albuera is situated above the river just at the junctionof the main roads to Badajos and Seville, and Talavera and Valverde.
"Beresford placed Blake's Spaniards on the right of the position; theBritish held the centre; Colborne's brigade (consisting of the 3rd,31st, 48th, and `ours') being posted near the village, which wasoccupied by Alten's Hanoverians; the Portuguese were on the left.
"On the evening of the 15th the light company of the --th was ordered toparade for piquet, and Captain Clarke marched us down to a narrow stonebridge spanning the Albuera in front of the village. Towards eighto'clock on the morning of the 16th Soult sent a battery of light guns,and some squadrons of light cavalry under Godinot, towards the bridge;and as soon as they had unlimbered, the French artillerists opened asmart cannonade upon our position, under cover of which Godinot's lighthorsemen advanced as though they would charge across the bridge, whichwas barely wide enough to allow three horses to cross abreast.
"`This is but a feint, Sergeant Jamieson,' Captain Clarke said to me aswe watched the movements of the enemy. `This is a feint, I feel sure.Depend upon it, Soult will try to turn our right, which is our weakpoint.'
&nbs
p; "Now it happened that Beresford, who had come round to visit thepiquets, overheard my captain's remark, and turning sharply round, said:
"`They are going to retreat, sir. I expect to attack their rear-guardby nine o'clock!'
"The words were hardly out of his mouth when an aide-de-camp galloped upfrom the right, where the Spaniards were posted, with the alarmingintelligence that our _right was turned_!
"We afterwards learned that during the night Soult had quietlyconcentrated 15,000 troops, with 30 guns, behind the wooded range whichBeresford left unoccupied, within ten minutes' march of our
The War of the Axe; Or, Adventures in South Africa Page 18
