Part 7

The NINETY-SECOND afterwards received the Royal Authority to bear the words “FUENTES D’ONOR” on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of the gallantry displayed by the first battalion in that battle.

Both armies continued in their positions during the 6th and 7th of May without any particular occurrence, and on the morning of the 8th, the rear of the enemy’s columns was seen retreating on the road towards Ciudad Rodrigo. The NINETY-SECOND still remained bivouacked near Fuentes d’Onor.

The French crossed the Agueda and left _Almeida_ to its fate. That place was evacuated by General Brennier at midnight of the 10th of May, when the enemy blew up the works, and the greater part of the garrison succeeded in effecting its escape during the night.

On the 14th of May, the battalion returned to its former cantonments in Albergaria, where orders were received increasing its establishment to twelve hundred rank and file.

Marshal Beresford, in the meantime, was continuing the blockade of _Badajoz_; but receiving information that Marshal Soult was advancing from Seville to its relief, he raised the siege on the 15th of May, and having concentrated his force, marched to meet the enemy. On the following day, the battle of _Albuhera_ was fought, and the British gained a brilliant but hard-earned victory. In the night of the 17th, Marshal Soult left Badajoz to its fate, and commenced his retreat towards Seville.

Viscount Wellington now gave orders for _Badajoz_ to be again closely invested. To assist in these operations, the brigade, of which the NINETY-SECOND formed part, was appointed the first in the second division of the army, under Lieut.-General Rowland (afterwards Viscount) Hill, at this time in Spanish Estremadura, covering the siege of Badajoz.

The battalion, under Lieut.-Colonel Cameron, marched, on the 25th of May, from Albergaria for the Alemtejo, crossed the Tagus at Villa Velha, and the Guadiana above Badajoz, and joined the second division in front of Albuhera, on the 10th of June, about ten days after the second siege of Badajoz had been commenced. Its effective strength consisted of fifty-six serjeants, sixteen drummers, and eight hundred and twenty-five rank and file.

Marshal Marmont, with the French army of Portugal, having effected a junction with that of the south, under Marshal Soult, they advanced to relieve Badajoz; Viscount Wellington found it therefore necessary to relinquish the siege, and to withdraw the allied army across the Guadiana.

Accordingly, the second division, on the 16th of June, broke up from its bivouac in front of Albuhera, marched by Valverde, recrossed the Guadiana, and arrived at Torre do Mouro on the 20th of June, where the principal part of the British army was drawn up in position, with its right upon Elvas and the left on Campo Mayor. The division broke up from the bivouac at Torre do Mouro on the 21st of July, marched to Elvas, and on the following day went into quarters in Borba, from whence it marched on the 1st of September, arriving on the 3rd of that month at Portalegre.

Meanwhile the main body of the army, under Viscount Wellington, had crossed the Tagus and invested _Ciudad Rodrigo_. Towards the end of September, Marshal Marmont, having received large reinforcements, advanced to Ciudad Rodrigo, and, after a partial engagement at El Bodon on the 25th of September, Viscount Wellington withdrew his army to his former position on the Coa.

On the 7th of October, a draft of one hundred and ninety-nine rank and file was received from the second battalion.

The second battalion embarked at Belfast on the 10th of October, and arrived on the following day at Irvine in North Britain.

General Girard’s division of the fifth French corps having taken post at Caceres, Lieut.-General Rowland Hill determined to drive the enemy from thence, and on the approach of the British troops the French retired, halting at _Arroyo-del-Molinos_.

On the 22nd of October, the first battalion of the NINETY-SECOND marched from Portalegre to Codesiera; on the 23rd to Albuquerque; on the 24th to the Sierra de San Pedro; on the 25th to Aliseda; on the 26th to Malpartida; on the following day to Alcuesca, and bivouacked without fires about a league from _Arroyo-del-Molinos_. During the whole of this fatiguing march, the weather was extremely severe, with constant rain.

The British troops, under Lieut.-General Hill, marched about two o’clock in the morning of the 28th of October, towards _Arroyo-del-Molinos_, a village situated in a plain at the foot of a ridge of rocks rising in the form of a crescent, their approach being concealed by a thick mist with heavy rain. The French infantry were assembling outside the village to commence their march to Merida, the baggage was being loaded, and General Girard was waiting at his quarters for his horse, when suddenly the _seventy-first_ and NINETY-SECOND regiments charged into the village, capturing much baggage and many prisoners; at the same time the _twenty-eighth_ and _thirty-fourth_ regiments made a detour, supported by the _thirty-ninth_, to cut off the enemy’s retreat.

The French formed two squares and commenced retreating. The NINETY-SECOND attacked, and broke one of the enemy’s squares, which was formed on the other side of the village, and thereby completed his overthrow.

In this brilliant affair the enemy lost all his artillery and baggage; and several officers of rank and consideration, with about fourteen hundred men, were taken prisoners. General Brun and Colonel the Prince d’Aremberg were among the prisoners. The ninth and thirteenth light dragoons, and the second Hussars, King’s German Legion, also shared in the action.

The NINETY-SECOND had Lieut.-Colonel John Cameron, Captains Donald McDonald, John McPherson, and Robert Nugent Dunbar (Brevet-Major), wounded; three rank and file were killed and seven wounded.

In the evening the battalion marched to San Pedro, and on the 29th of October proceeded to Merida; on the 31st to Montejo; on the 1st of November to Campo Mayor; on the 3rd to Arronches; and arrived at Portalegre on the 4th of November.

Lieut.-General Hill, on the 7th of November, issued the following General Order:—

“Portalegre, 7th November, 1811.

“Lieut.-General Hill has great satisfaction in congratulating the troops on the success which has attended their recent operations in Estremadura, and in so doing, he cannot but endeavour to do justice to the merits of those through whose exertions it has been obtained. A patient willing endurance of forced and night marches, during the worst of weather and over bad roads, of bivouacs in wet weather, oftentimes without cover and without fire, and a strict observance of discipline, are qualities, however common in British soldiers, which the Lieut.-General cannot pass unnoticed. Having on this occasion witnessed the exertion of them in no ordinary degree, he feels that nothing but the most zealous attention of commanding officers, the good-will and zealous spirit of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers, could produce such an effect, and he requests they will, generally and individually, accept his warmest thanks, particularly those corps which were engaged in the action of _Arroyo-del-Molinos_, whose silent attention to orders, when preparing to attack, and when manœuvring before the enemy, could not but excite his notice, and give them an additional claim on him.”

Letters from the Secretary of State, dated the 2nd, and from His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief, dated the 6th December, were promulgated, expressive of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent’s approbation and thanks to Lieut.-General Hill, and the troops under his command, for their brilliant operations on the recent expedition in Spanish Estremadura, in having totally surprised and defeated the enemy under General Girard.

Viscount Wellington having made preparations for the recapture of _Ciudad Rodrigo_, concentrated the main body of the army in that neighbourhood, and the troops under Lieut.-General Hill were therefore ordered to divert the enemy’s attention in the south.

Lieut.-General Hill marched from Portalegre on the 26th of December, and proceeded on the 29th to a bivouac about a league beyond La Nava, at which village about three hundred French infantry were discovered running to their arms upon the approach of the head of the British cavalry column. They, however, effected their escape to Merida, from which place they had been that morning detached, and acquainted General Dombrouski of the approach of the British troops.

On the 30th of December, the NINETY-SECOND and other British troops entered Merida, the French having retreated during the night, where they halted during the following day.

[Sidenote: 1812]

On the 1st of January, 1812, the British troops moved upon Almendralejos, beyond which, and close to the town, the enemy’s columns were formed, and seen immediately retreating to Azauchal. On the 3rd, Lieut.-General Hill matched his force to Villa Franca. A brigade of infantry, and the cavalry, were pushed forward to Fuentes del Maestre, where a smart affair took place, the enemy retreating upon Llerena with the loss of some prisoners.

Lieut.-General Hill’s division returned to Almendralejos on the 4th of January, and the NINETY-SECOND marched on the following day to Merida, where the troops went into quarters. The siege of _Ciudad Rodrigo_, which commenced on the 8th of January, being in a state of forwardness, it was expected that the French would make an effort to relieve the place. Lieut.-General Hill was therefore directed to throw a part of his force across the Tagus.

The troops accordingly marched on the 13th of January from Merida to La Nava; on the 14th to Zogalla; on the 15th to Albuquerque; on the 16th to Codesiera; on the 17th to Portalegre; on the 19th to Alpalhao; on the 20th to Niza; and on the following day they crossed the Tagus at Villa Velha; marched from thence to Sarnadas, and on the 22nd to Castello Branco. During this march intelligence was received of the storm and capture of _Ciudad Rodrigo_ by the British on the 19th of January.

On the 2nd of February, the NINETY-SECOND and other regiments under Lieut.-General Hill, were directed to return to Portalegre, where they arrived on the 5th of that month.

The strength of the first battalion at this period consisted of forty-three serjeants, sixteen drummers, and seven hundred and thirty rank and file. On the 4th of March the battalion marched to Alegrete, and on the following day to Albuquerque.

Previously to this time, a large quantity of artillery stores and the battering train had been embarked at Lisbon for the Mediterranean (as it was then reported), but the vessels put into the Bay of Setuval; the whole being landed at Alcacer de Sal, and conveyed up the Alemtejo, soon appeared moving on the plains in front and to the right of Elvas, in one long and continued chain towards the Guadiana. The army now became aware that the third siege of _Badajoz_ was to be undertaken.

Lieut.-General Hill’s corps marched from Albuquerque on the 15th of March, and arrived at La Nava on the 16th;—proceeded on the following day to Merida, where some officers and men of the enemy were made prisoners. The division continued its march to Almendralejos on the 18th of March, where the NINETY-SECOND and other troops were stationed to cover the siege of Badajoz, before which ground had been broken on the previous day.

The division proceeded on the 21st of March from Almendralejos to Merida, and on the 26th advanced towards Medellin and Don Benito, from which places it forced the enemy to retire. Advices were here received, that the enemy, under Marshal Soult, was advancing to Llerena, with a view to relieve Badajoz, to the vicinity of which place the covering army was directed to retire.

On the 31st of March, the division proceeded towards Merida, where it arrived on the 2nd of April; it marched on the 5th to a position near Talavera Real. On the night of the 6th of April, Badajoz was assaulted and carried by the troops under the Earl of Wellington, Marshal Soult consequently retraced his steps towards Seville.

The battalion marched into quarters in Almendralejos on the 13th of April. A French force having made an irruption into the province of Beira, the Earl of Wellington, with the main body of the army, crossed the Tagus immediately after the fall of Badajoz.

On the 12th of May, the battalion marched from Almendralejos, and bivouacked near Merida; on the 13th near Arroyo-del-Molinos; on the 14th near Villa Mesias; on the 15th entered Truxillo, and marched again about midnight; on the 16th bivouacked near Jaraicejo, and on the following day proceeded to the mountains near Casas del Puerto.

On the 18th of May, the NINETY-SECOND marched at night to attack the enemy’s fortifications covering the bridge of _Almaraz_. The ruggedness of the footpath through the mountains, and the darkness of the night, presented serious obstacles to a rapid march; it was consequently daylight before the troops were formed in the Valle de Canas.

The fiftieth regiment and a wing of the seventy-first were formed in one column, and were destined to assault Fort Napoleon on the 19th of May; while the NINETY-SECOND under Lieut.-Colonel Cameron, and the other wing of the seventy-first, were formed in a second column, ready to support the attack on Fort Napoleon, or to carry the _tête-de-pont_ at the same moment, both columns being provided with scaling ladders.

Fort Napoleon was carried in gallant style by the column sent against it, the enemy flying from it towards the _tête-de-pont_; the NINETY-SECOND dashed forward and entered with him. The commandant of Fort Ragusa, on the opposite bank of the Tagus, being seized with a panic, had cut away the bridge of boats; many of his countrymen consequently were either drowned or made prisoners.

The attention of all was now directed to the passage of the river. Some of the NINETY-SECOND immediately leaped in, and swam to the opposite side, bringing the boats back with them.[14] Thus was the bridge secured, together with Fort Ragusa, which the enemy immediately abandoned.

The enemy attached great importance to his establishment at this place, which secured the only direct communication between his two armies, and its destruction had the effect of placing them several days’ march more distant from each other, and over mountainous roads hardly passable by artillery. The works and bridge at _Almaraz_ having been destroyed, and about five hundred prisoners secured, the troops returned to Jaraicejo.

To commemorate the gallantry of the NINETY-SECOND in the above enterprise, the Royal Authority was afterwards received for the word “ALMARAZ” to be borne on the Regimental Colour and Appointments.

On the 21st of May, the troops marched to Truxillo, where they halted for two days. At this period intelligence was received that the French had pressed forward towards Almendralejos.

On the 24th of May, the corps under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill marched to a bivouac near Villa Mesias; on the 25th proceeded to the vicinity of Rio del Agua; on the 26th to near San Pedro, and occupied quarters in Merida on the day following.

The NINETY-SECOND marched from Merida on the 5th of June, and went into quarters in Almendralejos. On the 12th of June it marched to Fuentes del Maestre, and on the following day proceeded to Puebla de Sancho Perez. The enemy having moved from Andalusia in some force, evinced an inclination to bring on an action in this advanced position, probably to divert the Earl of Wellington from his operations upon Salamanca, with which place Marshal Soult had no direct communication since the loss of the bridge of Almaraz, and every movement in advance threw him farther from co-operating with Marshal Marmont.

The battalion retired to Los Santos on the 16th of June; on the 17th to Santa Martha; and on the 18th to a wood in front of Albuhera, where all the infantry under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill were assembled; some field-works were immediately thrown up to strengthen the position, and enable the Earl of Wellington, without apprehension for the safety of that corps, to prosecute his attack upon the enemy’s forts at _Salamanca_, which were captured on the 27th of June.

On the 2nd of July, the battalion advanced to Santa Martha; on the 3rd it marched to a bivouac near Villa Alva, where the enemy brought up some guns, and cannonaded the troops; on the 4th it bivouacked near Feria; on the 5th near Bienvenida; on the 6th near Villa Garcia; and on the 7th it entered Llerena.

The NINETY-SECOND marched from Llerena, by Arlones, on the 8th of July to Berlenga, where some cannonading and a cavalry skirmish took place, after which the enemy retired, and the battalion returned on the following day to Llerena.

The battalion again marched from Llerena on the 20th of July to Bienvenida, and on the following day to Zafra. The enemy at this time moved to his right, and had a force near Fuentes del Maestre.

During the night of the 26th of July, the NINETY-SECOND marched towards Villa Franca, near which place the battalion bivouacked about daylight. The French were about a league in front at Fuentes del Maestre. Between nine and ten o’clock in the morning of the 29th of July, a brigade of French guns was drawn up on a height, in front of their position, and fired a royal salute. Many were the surmises as to the cause of this rejoicing, until some of the British officers ascertained at the outposts, that the salute was in honor of a victory supposed to have been gained by the French at _Salamanca_.

Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, however, received more authentic intelligence from the scene of action, and immediately afterwards issued the following order:—

“_Villa Franca, 29th July, 1812._

“Captain Maxwell’s brigade of artillery will fire a salute of twenty-one guns at twelve o’clock, being in honor of the glorious and important victory gained over the enemy at _Salamanca_, by the army under the immediate command of the Earl of Wellington, on the 22nd instant.

“An extra ration of wine or spirits is to be issued to the British and Portuguese troops, to enable them to drink the Earl of Wellington’s health.

(Signed) “J. C. ROOK, “_Assistant Adjutant-General_.”

The troops were under arms, and after the salute, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill advanced; the enemy, however, did not await this proof that the victory was on the side of the Allies, but immediately retired, and Fuentes del Maestre was occupied by the British troops.

On the 1st of August, the battalion went into quarters in Villa Franca.

The allied army under the Marquis of Wellington, which title was conferred upon him after the victory of Salamanca, entered Madrid on the 12th of August, and was received with every demonstration of joy by the inhabitants. Marshal Soult, in consequence of this movement, raised the blockade of Cadiz, and abandoning Western Andalusia, moved towards Grenada.

Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s corps, of which the NINETY-SECOND formed part, advanced on the 28th of August to Usagre; on the 29th to Villa Garcia; on the 30th proceeded to the left to Maquilla; on the 31st to El Campillo; on the 1st of September the troops marched to Zalamea; on the 2nd to Quintana; on the 3rd to La Nava; and on the 4th to quarters in Don Benito.

On the 13th of September, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill crossed the Guadiana, and marched to Mojadas; on the 14th to Villa Mesias; and on the 15th to Truxillo, where the troops halted.

The troops resumed their march from Truxillo to a bivouac near Jaraicejo on the 19th of September, and on the day following crossed a pontoon bridge thrown over the Tagus, where that of the enemy formerly stood, and bivouacked near Almaraz; on the 21st the division proceeded to Naval Moral; on the 22nd marched to Calzada de Oropeza; on the 23rd to La Gartera, and there halted.

On the 26th of September, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s division marched to Talavera de la Reinha; on the 27th to Cebolla; on the 28th to Torrijos; on the 29th to Toledo; on the 30th to a bivouac near Villa Mejor; and on the 1st of October to quarters in Aranjuez.

At this period, the Marquis of Wellington was engaged in the siege of the Castle of Burgos. Information was also received that Marshal Soult and King Joseph, with their united armies, were advancing from Valencia, and that their advanced guard was in the neighbourhood of Ocanna, and moving on Madrid.

In consequence of the necessity of raising the siege of the Castle of Burgos, and retreating, the NINETY-SECOND, and other corps under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, moved from Aranjuez on the 23rd of October, crossed the Tagus, and marched to Colominarde Orejo; on the 25th advanced to the bridge of Fuentes Duenna; on the 27th of October, the enemy appeared on the opposite bank of the river and reconnoitred. The troops under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill marched on the following day to Villa Conejos, and on the same evening crossed the Jarama at Puente Larga, and went into position; on the 29th they marched to a bivouac near Valle de Moro; on the 30th near Abavaca; and on the 31st to El Escurial. The Marquis of Wellington, with the main body of the army, was at this period returning from the neighbourhood of Burgos towards Salamanca.

The NINETY-SECOND marched to a bivouac near the village of Guadarama on the 1st of November; on the 2nd crossed the Guadarama mountains, and bivouacked at Villa Castine; on the 3rd at Blasco Sancho; on the 4th at Naveos Duenna; on the 5th at Canaracillo; on the 7th crossed the river at _Alba de Tormes_, and bivouacked. On the 8th of November, the battalion was ordered into the town of Alba de Tormes to defend it, the allied army being at this time concentrated between that place and Salamanca.

The French, under Joseph Buonaparte, appeared on the 10th of November in great force on the heights above, and close to _Alba de Tormes_; after reconnoitring the place, the enemy commenced a very hot cannonade from a numerous artillery; at the same time pushing forward his light troops close under the old walls of the town, his columns ready to advance at the first appearance of the British being staggered by the effects of his artillery and numerous sharpshooters.

No such opportunity occurred, and the enemy withdrew his guns, after firing upwards of fifteen hundred shot and shell in about three hours. Such was the steadiness of the brigade, that he could not venture on the assault of a place surrounded by an old Moorish wall, in a state of perfect ruin, assailable at all points, and without any other defence than the brave troops that lined it. A strong force was kept watching the motions of the allies, and the enemy’s light troops kept up a skirmish during the 11th, 12th, and 13th of November.

The NINETY-SECOND had eight rank and file killed; Lieutenant Andrew Will and thirty-three rank and file were wounded.

At daylight on the morning of the 14th of November, the enemy’s cavalry were seen crossing the Tormes, about a league above the town, which was evacuated in the course of the day; the bridge blown up, and a small Spanish garrison left in the castle. This night the NINETY-SECOND bivouacked on the Arapiles, the whole army being there in position.