Swallowing Portugal Will Settle My Spanish Bellyache

by Geoffrey Watson

  Welbeloved was silent while he turned over in his mind the implications of the offer. At length, a broad grin spread across his face. “Charles, I should enjoy, above all things, a pleasant cruise as yor guest. It shall resolve a problem I have been unsure about. Were I in Graham’s shoes, I should be inclined to resent a junior officer declining to accept my authority.

  As this is a joint venture and my Hornets are close at hand, I feel morally obliged to help. Yor suggestion shall permit me to do so on my own terms, using the Hornets as they should be used.”

  He turned to MacKay. “Hamish, do yew return to Ronda and get the men moving. Recall Tonks if he is not back and send two companies to reconnoitre Victor’s positions around Cadiz.

  Use the other two to keep in close touch with our forces so that yew shall know the route we shall take to Cadiz. I should like Dai Evans and his platoon to join me when we land. He shall be our link.

  I have an uncomfortable feeling about the Spanish involvement in this affair and shall need yew and Dai to keep me fully informed about how the Frogs are reacting.

  Is there anything I haven’t covered to yor satisfaction, Hamish?”

  MacKay was looking very smug. He tried to disguise it by being rather formal. “Nae a thing, Sir Joshua. I’d a notion you’d wish tae be involved wi’ whatever they shall attempt. Tonks is recalled frae Seville and each company is waiting tae move off as soon as I get back tae them. Dai Evans shall be here wi’ your horse when you land.”

  Welbeloved looked ruefully at Cockburn. “I have this feeling, Charles, that I am become altogether too predictable. If Hamish always knows what I am thinking before I think it, do yew not imagine the Frogs shall soon be doing the same?”

  Cockburn was laughing heartily. “If you train all your officers to understand your tortuous thinking, Joshua, you have no reason to be plaintive about it. I do recall being most grateful when you took the time to explain to me the various things you had done or were about to do.”

  MacKay slipped quietly away while Welbeloved was protesting vehemently about such calumny, knowing well that it contained more than a grain of truth.

  CHAPTER 23

  The British division of the allied army did not land at Gibraltar. The weather was so stormy and the winds so adverse that they were forced to join one of the Spanish divisions and come ashore at Algeciras, across the bay. The other Spanish division was landed at Tarifa, some fifteen miles farther west.

  Welbeloved reserved his opinion of General Sir Thomas Graham. He had to assume his competence as a commander, although he wished that he was not so immersed in military thinking concerning seniority and etiquette, once he had discovered who was the general that the Cadiz Regency Council had put in command of the Spanish divisions.

  Unfortunately, he was senior to Graham and there were two Spanish divisions to one British. He also insisted that he was in overall command of the joint force and Graham reluctantly accepted that this was so.

  On one occasion, Welbeloved had cried out that there must be some competent Spanish generals and quite possibly this was true. Spain, though, suffered from a similar, though much more rigid system of military privilege as Britain. Senior officers with long service and impeccable aristocratic credentials would never allow mere talent to usurp their privileged, if largely amateur, positions.

  General Manuel La Peña was known to Welbeloved and most of the Spanish military as Doña Manolita or Little Lady Manuela, having more than his share of pride and an enormous opinion of himself, but little ability, energy, drive or experience of battle.

  If the Hornets had not already been committed, Welbeloved would have considered following his own advice, having nothing to do with the expedition and advising Graham to do the same.

  It was now too late and Graham’s Anglo-Portuguese force marched with La Peña’s Spanish, straight along the coastal road back towards Cadiz, completely ignoring Graham’s recommendation that a sweep inland to take the French in the rear, offered by far the best chance of success.

  Welbeloved contained his impatience at the slow rate of advance. Dai Evans and his platoon had somehow discovered the change in the port of landing and were waiting with his horse when he came ashore.

  Five days later, the two Spanish and one Anglo-Portuguese divisions had all disembarked, joined together and were about twenty miles on their way to Cadiz. Being used to the pace of the Hornets, even when accompanied by their wagons, he found the army with its baggage train was moving at a snail’s pace. They only had to travel sixty miles after all and it was going to take them another three days at least. His complete brigade could have done it in one, but then, they were not on foot and encumbered with hundreds of wagons and several troops of gunners.

  It was irritating, particularly as Marshal Victor was sure to be aware of the challenge well before they reached Cadiz and should have plenty of time to prepare all sorts of nasty surprises.

  The only surprise so far was the relative lack of activity by the French, as reported by MacKay’s messenger every day before midday. Welbeloved was able to give Graham the only intelligence he could rely on. La Peña had established his seniority and for the most part ignored the British division, merely sending orders by one of his aides.

  It was of course possible that he was getting no reliable information himself, which was hard to believe. He was on home ground after all, but he certainly wasn’t keeping Graham informed. The whole army was just blundering along blindly as far as anyone knew.

  Welbeloved and Evans, with the twenty, veteran, Ferguson-carrying Hornets of 1 Platoon, walked their horses slowly in a compact troop, close to Graham’s command group. The two generals met once a day, when Welbeloved reported any news or lack of news, as soon as MacKay’s courier arrived. Relations between them were cool, as Sir Thomas had not accepted at all gracefully, Welbeloved’s refusal to put his command under Graham’s authority, offering only his close personal co-operation instead.

  Glancing up at the sun, Welbeloved had no need to consult his pocket watch. Years of taking noon sightings told him that he could expect today’s report from MacKay at any time within the next hour. His instinct was right, but the messenger was MacKay himself.

  He looked quizzically at his subordinate and close friend. “Glad as I always am to see yew, Hamish, I can only assume that yor personal attendance does not bring reasons for rejoicing.”

  MacKay shrugged philosophically. “It’s gratifying tae ken that I’m appreciated for myself, Sir. It is nae guid tidings, as you hae already guessed. Partly our own reconnaissance and partly what the guerrilleros hae told us.

  For a start, we hae wasted our time at Seville. Yes, we weakened Soult tae the extent o’ one division, but he just carried on and captured Olivenza and four thousand Spanish soldiers. Then he started on Badajoz, but had tae give way tae Mendizabal in command o’ Romana’s army.

  Mendizabal reinforced Badajoz and settled himself down in the hills on the other side of the river tae wait for Soult tae give up and go back south. He had twelve thousand men and a position we could hae held wi’ one company of ours.

  Soult didnae go away. He sent a single division across the river and routed them while they were asleep. He is now investing the town again. I don’t know what it is about these Spanish generals that is such a disaster. We ken their men are brave enough when they trust their leaders, yet they keep on getting thrashed each time they meet the French.”

  True enough, Hamish, but there is little we can do about Badajoz now. Tell me yor real reason for coming to see me in person.”

  “That’s the other bad news, Sir. The French ken that you’re coming and Victor must hae stripped the lines round Cadiz of every man save his specialists. There’s the best part o’ three divisions between here and Cadiz and if the Spaniards are as reliable as those at Badajoz, our own lads could be facing odds o’ three tae one by this time tomorrow.”

  “Ah!” Welbeloved looked grave. “I think I should have followed my own
advice and had nothing to do with this affair, but it is a little late for that now. Come along with me and tell Sir Thomas everything you have found out about the French dispositions.”

  Their reception was such that within half an hour, all three of them were riding to find General La Peña, who was not particularly pleased to see them, having stopped with his entourage while his army plodded past the pavilion erected to allow him to enjoy a hearty midday meal.

  La Peña did not get up from the table, neither did he invite his visitors to share his meal. He barely acknowledged Graham and completely ignored his two companions, drably dressed and cloaked as they were.

  He cut Graham short when he started to speak and yelled in his own language for an interpreter. MacKay moved to step forward to offer his services and was restrained by Welbeloved with a muttered, “Leave it be, Hamish. T’is best we don’t understand the Spanish for now.” It earned him a searching look from MacKay, who nevertheless stood still and waited.

  The interpreter was an elderly scholar, who hurried in and greeted them politely in excellent but stilted english. He was immediately told by La Peña to stop his chatter and confine himself to translating what was said. In spite of this, he did try to be diplomatic, translating La Peña’s disparaging reference to the two ‘scruffy bandits’ that Graham had brought with him into ‘the two modestly dressed gentlemen.’

  If that should be considered as the low point in the conversation, the rest of the interview went downhill from that moment. La Peña stated that he did not believe that Victor had half the strength that MacKay had reported and that when they got close to the siege lines, the French would be attacked by his own vanguard and simultaneously by a foray in divisional strength from the defenders of Cadiz.

  They would, of course, sweep the French aside and then Graham would be expected to stop worrying about being attacked and bring his men to help turn victory into a rout. Until then his orders were that the British division should advance, as from the next village of Conil, along the road parallel to the coastal road, but a couple of miles inland. He would send word as soon as he decided to allow them to share his victory.

  He closed the discussion by dismissing them with rather less civility than he would have used with his servants. It was much worse in fact, but the interpreter managed to keep the translation within the bounds of acceptable behaviour.

  Graham was not happy with La Peña’s attitude, but was unaware of the frankly insulting way he had expressed himself; presumably for the benefit of the staff seated around him. He was turning to go when Welbeloved grasped his elbow. “Wait just a minute, Sir Thomas, there is something I wish to say to La Peña.”

  Welbeloved had used his voice over the years when necessary, to give orders to men in the rigging at the height of a raging storm. Normally quietly spoken, he could increase the volume to extraordinary levels when he chose to.

  Maybe it wasn’t necessary now, but all the Spaniards in the vicinity knew that General Graham was being humiliated: everyone except Sir Thomas himself.

  He addressed the Spanish general in fluent spanish, his voice at full volume, so that everyone within a hundred yards could hear.

  “I must commend the courage and intelligence of your interpreter, La Peña! Your words were a disgrace to the courtesy and chivalry of the Grandees of Spain and if General Graham understood spanish, the British division would now be marching back to Gibraltar.

  Without his support you cannot make your men stand against Victor. You are not capable and shall be routed, just as Mendizabal has been routed by no more than a fraction of his own force at Badajoz.”

  It brought La Peña to his feet, roaring with rage. “Who are you who dare to slander me and Spanish arms? I shall have you brought to a court martial and broken, whoever you are.”

  Welbeloved wore a feral grin. “Pray do so, La Peña. The Regency Council in Cadiz insists that I am the Conde de Alba. It is unlikely that they will doubt what I tell them. If you imagine that I am impugning your honour in spite of everything that your staff have heard, do please tell your second to ask for General Welbeloved.”

  He turned and left, followed by MacKay and a very puzzled Graham, who looked at him curiously. “What was all that about, Welbeloved? ‘Pon my soul, you seem to have got him unco excited.”

  It was his fellow Scot who took it upon himself to answer. “Sir Joshua was taking him tae task, General, for the indifferent quality o’ the interpreter. Although what he said was accurate it was nae the way La Peña intended.”

  “Ah! I see, Colonel. It did occur to me that he was not being polite. I am glad to learn that it was the way it was translated, although the general did appear to take your correction amiss.”

  Welbeloved snorted. “MacKay is from Scotland, Sir Thomas. He is being tactful to a fellow countryman. La Peña was being grossly offensive, knowing that his interpreter would soften his words.

  Believe me or not, as yew please, but I wager La Peña intends to bludgeon his way through probable token opposition; supported by the foray from Cadiz. He shall use yor division to protect his flank and his army shall scuttle back into Cadiz, leaving yew being attacked by more than double yor own strength.”

  Graham stared at him aghast. “You surely cannot be certain of that, Sir Joshua. I have always been prepared to concede that when we fight together, our own troops shall do most of the fighting. You only have to remember Talavera to know that. This though, should not only be dishonourable, but deliberate treachery. I find it hard to believe that our allies should descend to such depths after all the French have done to them.”

  “Believe it, General. He is not an honourable man. He is though, proud and jealous. He knows that if his army faces the French, it gets beat. Why not then, let the heretic English and the atheistic French fight to the death and then come back, drive the enemy survivors off and claim a wonderful victory?”

  “You present a very convincing argument, Sir Joshua. I cannot believe that they should be so deliberately treacherous, but I can understand why they would use us to take the brunt of any French attack.

  I also understand now, why you have been so unwilling to commit your battalion wholeheartedly and I apologize for doubting your commitment. What do you now intend to do? I cannot bring myself to beg, but I am likely to need every man I can lay my hands on.”

  “We shall not desert yew now, Sir Thomas.” They had reached the British column and dismounted. “May I have a look at that chart that I saw yew studying?”

  Graham unrolled the map showing the whole area around Cadiz. It was surprisingly crude, considering that Cadiz had always been the main naval harbour of Spain, but it did show the features that Welbeloved had been hoping to see.

  He put his finger on Leon Island, a long detachment with Cadiz at the north-western end. “Here, at the south-east point is where I think the garrison is to make its foray, across the Almanza creek, in support of La Peña’s attack. I have heard that they have a pontoon bridge that can be put in place as soon as the French can be distracted.

  That is almost certainly where La Peña is heading. He has to secure an escape route for when things go wrong. It is also at the end of a two-mile long peninsular, where the coast road and the road you are to follow meet, half a mile before the bridge.

  The French are bound to contest the peninsular, but shall find themselves caught between the foray and La Peña and are likely to withdraw northward across a bridge over this creek alongside the road to Leon Island.

  Conil is about ten miles out and that is where you shall split off from the Spanish who shall take the better, coastal road, protected by yor division that shall be moving on the poorer road in parallel, between one and two miles inland. Victor shall almost certainly attack you from the north, somewhere along that ten-mile stretch.

  I shall not insult yew by making any suggestions about how yew deal with the threat, but I implore yew to treat any orders from La Peña with the most healthy scepticism. Don’t let him w
eaken yor force.

  Regarding the Hornets. Should yew agree, I shall lead two companies on yor flank to give as much warning as I can. Hamish shall lead the other two behind the enemy force. He shall know where and when to interfere to yor best advantage.”

  “Of course I agree, Sir Joshua. I pray that you are wrong, but I cannot afford to ignore your warning, which sounds all too possible. We shall pass through Conil tomorrow morning. After that is the time that you suggest any action shall start. Do me the honour of dining with me when we bivouac this evening. I have only heard rumours about the capabilities of your men. There has to be some justification for such wild claims. I shall be grateful if you can tell me how much I should believe.”

  Hamish MacKay rode away almost immediately. He used Graham’s map to show them where he had last seen Victor’s men. He had studied the area where Welbeloved would be reconnoitring tomorrow and would aim to be parallel with him, but separated by one of Victor’s divisions if Welbeloved’s intuition was correct.

  MacKay would have A and B Companies, while C and D Companies would join Welbeloved in the morning, together with the girls of ‘MacKay’s Harem’ and all the wagons and drivers. Welbeloved intended that his reconnaissance should be on foot. The girls and the wagoners were there to herd all the horses at their rear. If it was necessary to move they could do so quickly.

  Graham followed up his invitation by sounding out Welbeloved about whether he should be prepared to talk about the Hornets if the invitation were extended to his senior officers as well.

  Welbeloved thought hard about it and offered a counter suggestion. “What we are doing, Sir Thomas, is so completely different that any senior officer shall find it difficult to accept without some practical evidence of the deadliness of the weapons that enable us to be so effective at what we do. I have discovered that most of my military peers dismiss out of hand anything outside their hard won experience over many years of soldiering. Then when they learn that I am a Navy man they become deaf to anything I say.