Salamanca 1812- Wellington’s Year of Victories

by Peter Edwards

  Finally one has to return to that moment next to the Las Arapiles when ‘By God, that will do!’ set in train such an ambitious sequence. To that point the day – and the previous days – had passed in contemplating a rather shameful return to the Rodrigo road, whilst still looking for the opportunity that might yet break the deadlock. After an aborted false start, his staff (and Beresford!) were, perhaps, trusting that there would not be another. When he then galloped off to Pakenham it was obvious there was to be no turning back this time. What he had in mind we can know only by the development of subsequent events. There was to be an inevitable time gap of around an hour before Pakenham could close on Thomières. He did not wish Leith or Cole to move forward during the gap, until Thomières was engaged to the west with Pakenham, lest he swing north to threaten Leith’s flank. Reducing the plan to the simplicity of a boxing ring, we may say Wellington was to deliver a right hook (Pakenham), a pair of straight lefts (Leith followed by Cole) and then a right upper cut (Le Marchant). The latter was to be the intended killer blow. We know Wellington was present and watched, and it is said, later complimented Cotton; so he was certainly in a position to have himself decided when to give the nod to release the Heavy Brigade. It was, of course, Le Marchant’s job then to take them forward, and to regulate the direction and pace. Wellington’s timing was perfect, allowing Leith’s assault to have developed and to have turned Maucune’s regiments such that the dragoons were presented with their ideal target: largely ill-formed groups and individuals. After that the day was in no doubt. It had been a classic exhibition of how matured military experience can provide a sound base for just one sparking, inspired moment of decision. It required high moral courage and a fine judgement, and in both regards his Lordship met the challenge. It also required resolute physical courage and a robust fighting spirit, and in both those regards his men and their officers readily gave of their best.

  This story of a year’s campaigning, a year whose two halves are somewhat at odds one with another, we may safely say shows the achievements listed earlier did together render Napoleon’s Spanish policy vulnerable and therefore with time running out, as is a tree to a gusting wind, whose roots have started to rot. There is now a growing inevitability of a crash. The only prevention is for the tree to be propped up with reinforcing timbers, but after Russia the Emperor had none to spare. Indeed, the contemporary ruin of the huge army he took there would, on the contrary, require replacement drafts from Spain, as from everywhere else. The knowledge of the extent of the retreat from Moscow, and French losses, would not become known much before Christmas, and the consequences to the European allies would not take shape much before Easter 1813. Thereby was provided, for our thin worn-out men in tattered red coats, a few months of rest, dedicated to keeping warm, dry and safe, and well topped up with rum and rations. For they would be on the march again. When they did so, Wellington paused at the frontier into Spain, turned his horse, took off his hat and with a dramatic flourish completely out of character, cried ‘Farewell, Portugal! I shall never see you again.’ Nor did he, but he did see France.

  Further Reading

  With few exceptions, my hundred or so eyewitness accounts are available in the Reading Room of the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London. Anything published after about mid-1840, however, should be read in the knowledge that the author would have had at his elbow William Napier’s six-volume History of the War in the Peninsula, for the next sixty years the pre-eminent general history, which naturally inspired many veterans’ memoirs. It also provided a ready-made solution for veterans with memory loss concerning particular events, such as those at which they were not actually present. Napier’s words were accordingly well borrowed – frequently verbatim.

  However, with no disrespect to Napier, Sir Charles Oman’s seven-volume History of the Peninsular War, first published between 1902 to 1930, must remain the academic bible of ultimate reference. Volume V covers Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz and Salamanca, Volume VI covers Burgos. Oman’s immense research into sources and battlefield investigations produced a massive definitive work, which surely, warts and all, will never now be superseded by a single author. His nearest rival is his contemporary Sir John Fortescue, whose thirteen-volume History of the British Army devotes no fewer than seven volumes to the Peninsula – Volume VIII covers 1812.

  The prime sources for the sieges are Colonel John Jones’s Journal of the Sieges etc. (1814) and Sir Alexander Dickson’s The Dickson Manuscripts (1908). Both have been used to great effect, together with individual Memoirs and Letters etc., by Frederick Myatt’s British Sieges of the Peninsular War (1987) and Ian Fletcher’s In Hell before Daylight (1984). The latter’s account of Badajoz is particularly colourful, with revealing modern photographs; while the garrison’s problems are covered by their Chief Engineer, Colonel Lamare, in his Account of the Second Siege etc. (1824).

  Salamanca itself is well brought to life by Lawford and Young’s Wellington’s Masterpiece (1973) and Ian Fletcher’s Salamanca in the Osprey series (1997), the latter again presenting excellent photography of the battlefield. The pamphlet The Salamanca Campaign written in 1906 by Captain A.H. Marindin, Black Watch, is by nature essentially just a Staff College crammer, but includes some thoughtful comment. Very far from a pamphlet is Rory Muir’s excellent Salamanca 1812 (2001) for which the description ‘comprehensive’ is inadequate by half: his scholarship and the breadth of his research puts this work in a class of its own. Similarly ground breaking in its depth and detail is Galloping at Everything (1999) by (again) Ian Fletcher, which does long-overdue justice to the British cavalry so unfairly slighted by both Oman and the Duke himself, yet whose finest and most decisive Peninsular outing was at Salamanca – and of course, the following day, for the dragoons of the King’s German Legion at Garcia Hernandez.

  At one’s side, when reading any of these accounts, must surely be the 2011 Atlas of the Peninsular War by Ian Robertson. His cartographer Martin Brown has succeeded brilliantly in producing uncluttered battle plans, in colour and in beautiful detail, the whole much enhanced of course by Robertson’s reliable narrative.

  Memoirs, Journals and Letters etc. quoted in the Text

  Aitchison, Lieutenant John, 3rd Guards, Ensign in the Peninsular War, Letters etc., 1981

  Anon, Officer of the 5th, Maxwell’s Sketches, 1844

  Anon, Officer, Ellis’s Fusilier Brigade, Letter (National Army Museum)

  Anon, Officer of the 77th, Maxwell’s Sketches, 1844

  Anon, Officer of the 94th, Maxwell’s Sketches, 1844

  Anon, Officer (C.J.T.S) attached 77th, United Services journal, Oct 1832

  Anon, Soldier of the 42nd, Personal Narrative of a Private Soldier, 1821

  Anon, Soldier of the 38th, Letter (National Army Museum)

  ‘A.Z.’ United Services journal, Nov 1833

  Arentschildt, Lieutenant Colonel F. von, Quoted in History of the K.G.L. (Beamish)

  Bainbrigge, Captain Philip, United Services Journal, 1878

  Bell, Ensign George, 34th, Rough Notes of an Old Soldier, 1867

  Bingham, Lieutenant Colonel George, 53rd, The Bingham Manuscripts, 1948

  Blakeney, Captain Robert, 28th, A Boy in the Peninsular War, 1899

  Bragge, Captain William, 3rd Dragoons, Peninsular Portrait, 1963

  Brazill, Sergeant Pat, 88th, Letter to United Services journal, August 1843

  Browne, Lieutenant Thomas, 23rd, journal

  Burgoyne, Major John, R.E., Life & Correspondence, 1873

  Burroughs, Surgeon George, Retreat from Burgos, 1814

  Cameron, Lieutenant Colonel John, 9th, Letter to Napier, 1827

  Cameron, Lieutenant Donald, 7th, Quoted in Regimental History

  Campbell, Major General Henry, Letter in Luffness Papers

  Campbell, Captain James, The British Army As It Was, 1840

  Carss, Lieutenant John, 53rd, Quoted in History of the 53rd, 1970

  Cathcart, Lieutenant Colonel Charles, Letter to Graham (Ly
nedock Papers)

  Close, Lieutenant Edward, 48th, his Journal

  Cocks, Major Edward Somers, 16th Light Dragoons, Letters and Diaries 1986

  Colborne, Lieutenant Colonel John, 52nd, The Life of John Colborne, 1903

  Cooke, Lieutenant John, 43rd, Memoirs of the Late War, 1831

  Cooper, Sergeant John, 7th, Rough Notes, 1869

  Costello, Rifleman Edward, 95th, The Peninsular and Waterloo Campaigns, 1852

  Cotton, Lieutenant General Sir Stapleton, Memoirs and Correspondence, 1866

  D’Arcy, Lieutenant John, 88th, Quoted in Regimental History

  D’Hautpol, Captain Alfonse, 59th Ligne, Memoirs etc., 1906

  D’Urban, Major General Benjamin, The Peninsular Journal, 1930

  Dickson, Major Alexander RA, The Dickson Manuscripts, 1908

  Dobbs, Captain John, 52nd, Recollections of an old 52nd Man, 1863

  Douglas, Corporal John, 1st, Tale of the Peninsular

  Dyneley, Captain Thomas RA, Letters

  Ewart, Captain John, 52nd, Journal, 1905

  Fergusson, Captain James, 43rd, Letter Quoted by Napier

  Foy, General Maximilian, History of the War of the Peninsular under Napoleon, 1827

  Foy, General Maximilian, His Military Life, 1900

  Freer, Ensign George, 38th, Quoted in Regimental History

  Garretty, Sergeant Thomas, 43rd, Memoirs of a Sergeant, 1835

  Girard, Colonel Etienne-Francois, Les Cahiers du Colonel Girard, 1951

  Gomm, Major William, 9th, Letters and Journals, 1881

  Grattan, Ensign William, 88th, Adventures with the Connaught Rangers, 1847

  Green, Private John, 68th, The Vicissitudes of a Soldier’s Life, 1827

  Green, Bugler William, 95th, The Travels and Adventures of William Green, 1857

  Hale, Sergeant James, 9th, Journal, 1826

  Harvey, Brigadier General William, At Rodrigo, Quoted by Napier

  Hay, Captain Andrew Leith, 29th, Narrative of the Peninsular War, 1831

  Hennell, Volunteer George, A Gentleman Volunteer — Letters

  Henry, Surgeon Walter, Events of a Military Life, 1843

  Hill, Lieutenant General Sir Rowland, Life and Letters, 1845

  Hodenberg, Lieutenant Carl von, KGL, Letters, ed. Oman, 1913

  Hopkins, Captain Edward, 4th, Letter Quoted by Napier

  History of the 1st (Royal) Dragoons (Atkinson)

  History of the 4th Dragoons (Scott Daniell) 1959

  History of the 5th Dragoon Guards (Cannon)

  History of the 12th Lancers (Stewart) 1950

  History of the 13th Hussars (Barrett)

  History of the 1st (Royal Scots) (Brander) 1921

  History of the 4th (Cowper) 1939

  History of the 5th (Walker) 1919

  History of the 7th (Wheater) 1875

  History of the 9th (Cannon) 1848

  History of the 11th (Cannon) 1845

  History of the 23rd (Cary and McCance)

  History of the 30th (Bannatyne) 1923

  History of the 38th (Jones) 1923

  History of the 43rd (Levinge) 1868

  History of the 44th (Carter) 1887

  History of the 45th (Wylly) 1929

  History of the 52nd (Moorson) 1860

  History of the 71st

  History of the 88th (Cannon) 1838

  History of the Rifle Brigade (Verner) 1912

  History of the King’s German Legion (Beamish) 1832

  History of the 61st (Regimental Digest of Service)

  Jones, Major John, RE, Journal of the Sieges, 1846

  Jones, Sergeant John, 5th, Letter to United Services Journal, 1843

  Kempt, Major General James, Letter Quoted by Napier, 1833

  Kincaid, Captain John, 95th, Adventures in the Rifle Brigade,

  Kincaid, Captain John, Random Shots from a Rifleman, 1835

  Kingsmill, Lieutenant Parr, 88th, Journal and Correspondence

  Knowles, Lieutenant Robert, 7th, The War in the Peninsular: Some Letters, 1913

  Lamare, Colonel, Account of the Second Defence of Badajoz, 1824

  Landsheit, Sergeant Norbert, ‘The Hussar’, 1844

  Lawrence, Sergeant William, 40th, The Autobiography of Sergeant William Lawrence, 1886

  Leach, Captain John Anthon, 95th, Rough Sketches, 1831

  Le Monnier-Delafosse, Captain J-B, 31st Léger, Souvenirs Militaire, 1850

  Lightfoot, Captain Thomas, 45th, Regimental History

  Lillie, Major John, Letter to Napier

  Luard, Lieutenant John, 4th Dragoons, Letters in Scarlet Lancer, 1964

  Marmont, Marshal, Duc de Ragusa, Memoirs etc. 1857

  Marchant, Major General John Le, Memoirs etc. 1841

  Massey, Lieutenant John, 3rd Dragoons, Letter in National Army Museum, August 1812

  Mills, Lieutenant John, Coldstream, Letters and Diaries

  Money, Colonel Archibald, 11th Light Dragoons, Quoted in Napier

  Moriarty, Lieutenant Thomas, 88th, Quoted in Regimental History

  Morley, Sergeant Stephen, 5th, Memoirs, 1842

  MacCarthy, Captain James, 50th, Recollections of the Storming of Badajoz, 1836

  McGrigor, Surgeon James, Autobiography and Services, 1861

  Napier, Major General Sir William, History of the War in the Peninsular, Volume IV, 1834

  Newman, Major Frederick, 11th, Quoted in Life of Napier (Brace)

  Norcliffe, Lieutenant N., 4th Dragoons, Quoted in Cavalry journal, 1912

  Pack, Brigadier General Dennis, Blackwoods magazine, 1946

  Pakenham, Major General The Hon. Edward, The Pakenham Letters etc., 1914

  Parquin, Captain Charles (of Marmont’s Escort), Napoleon’s Army, 1969

  Paterson, William, Commissariat Clerk, Letters in National Army Museum

  Patterson, Captain John, 50th, The Adventures of etc., 1837

  Ponsonby, Colonel Frederick, 12th Light Dragoons, Letters in Leveson Gower, 1916

  Ridge, Major Henry, 5th, Letter of 24 January, 1812

  Ridge, Major Henry, Peninsular Sketches (Maxwell), 1844

  Ross-Lewin, Lieutenant Harry, 32nd, With the 32nd in the Peninsular, 1904

  Simmons, Lieutenant George, 95th, A British Rifleman: Journals and Correspondence, 1899

  Smith, Lieutenant Harry, 95th, Autobiography, 1910

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  Stanhope, Captain James, 1st Guards, Journal

  Surtees, Quartermaster William, 95th, Twenty Five Years in the Rifle Brigade, 1833

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  Wellington, General Arthur, Earl of,

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  APPENDIX 1

  Orders for the Attack on Ciudad Rodrigo 19 January 1812

  The attack upon Ciudad Rodrigo must be made this evening at 7 o’clock.

  The light infantry company of the 83rd regiment will join Lieutenant Colonel O’Toole at sunset.

  Lieutenant Colonel O’Toole, with the 2nd Caçadores, and the light company of the 83rd regiment, will, 10 minutes before 7, cross the Agueda by the bridge, and make an attack upon the outwork in front of the castle. The object of this attack is to drive the artillerymen from two guns in that outwork, which bear upon the entrance into the ditch, at the junction of the counterscarp with the main wall of the place: if Lieutenant Colonel O’Toole can get into the outwork, it wou
ld be desirable to destroy these guns. Major Sturgeon will show Lieutenant Colonel O’Toole his point of attack. Six ladders, 12 feet long each, will be sent from the engineer park to the old French guardroom, at the mill on the Agueda, for the use of this detachment.

  The 5th regiment will attack the entrance of the ditch at the point above referred to; Major Sturgeon will likewise show them the point of attack; they must issue from the right of the convent of Santa Cruz; they must have 12 axes to cut down the gate by which the ditch is entered, at the junction of the counterscarp with the body of the place. The 5th regiment are likewise to have 12 scaling ladders, 25 feet long, and immediately on entering the ditch, are to scale the fausse-braie wall, and are to proceed along the fausse-braie, in order to clear it of the enemy’s posts on their left, towards the principal breach.

  The 77th regiment are to be in reserve on the right of the convent of Santa Cruz, to support the first party, which will have entered the ditch.

  The ditch must besides be entered on the right of the breach by two columns, to be formed on the left of the convent of Santa Cruz, each to consist of five companies of the 94th regiment. Each column must have three ladders, 12 feet long, by which they are to descend into the ditch, and they are to have 10 axes to cut down any palisades which may be placed in the ditch to impede the communication along it.