by Griff Hosker
“They are Portuguese students, sir. They have killed the garrison and they say there are no French nearby.”
“But do we believe them?”
“I have Sergeant Sharp getting a horse for me, sir and when he returns I shall scout the immediate area.”
“Surely your sergeant could do that?”
“Of course he could, sir, but you want more than just the numbers of French do you not? You need to know the best way to go to get to Lisbon. The line of least resistance. You need someone to make a decision about what is valuable information and what is not.”
He smiled, “I have obviously made my needs clear to you Major. Carry on.” He turned to the men erecting the tents. “Get a move on or do you expect me to boil in this sun?”
In truth it was not very hot at all but then I had served in Egypt where it was really hot all of the time.
Sharp returned an hour later with a fine looking animal. He dismounted, “Sir, there were twenty or so Frogs. They are all dead. I saw no signs of any others. They were the 65th regiment sir.”
“Good. I will have a little look around. Don’t wait food for me.”
I paused as Sir Arthur looked up at me. “Be careful, Major.”
I smiled. This sounded like concern. “Always, Sir Arthur.”
I headed south along the beach. I had studied the maps and knew that Lisbon was some hundred miles to the south. Sir John’s light infantry could do that in three days but the rest of the army would take four or five days. I needed to see where the French were and find a good site for Sir Arthur to fight. I rode hard and passed through a quiet Leiria. The locals hid as I galloped through its streets but there were no blue uniforms. My mount was tiring when I neared a tiny village I later found out was called Roliça. It was fortuitous. I had to turn back but I had found a good place for Sir Arthur to defend should the French attack. It would take the army two days to reach it but the light infantry could make it in one day. I turned my horse and headed north.
I saw the fires on the beach as I led my weary horse the last mile or so. I had ridden further than I ought to have done. I am a horseman through and through and I felt guilty about abusing the captured animal. I noticed that the tents were all perfectly laid out in straight lines. The Marines always did things properly. I saw a pair of sentries. They did not see me until I was lit by the firelight. Had I been a Frenchman I could have killed them before they had known I was there.
“Halt, who goes there?”
“Major Matthews.”
“Advance and be recognised.”
Sir Arthur and Sergeant Sharp came out of their respective tents. Sir Arthur did not look happy. He flapped his hand at the insects. “Should have stayed aboard the sloop. Damned flies. Well Matthews? Found anything?”
“There are no French within a day’s ride of us, sir. This will make a good landing site.”
“Good. Well goodnight, Matthews, and well done.”
As he turned to enter his tent Sharp said, “I’ve saved you some food, sir.”
Sir Arthur turned as Sharp spoke as though he had suddenly realised that I had not eaten since we had landed. For Sir Arthur such considerations did not even merit a thought.
Chapter 8
The fleet reached us on the 31st of July. It was too late to land the men but the senior officers and some marines managed to get ashore before the light went completely. As soon as they did so it was as though I had vanished. Sir Arthur totally ignored me. I did not mind for I had been at his beck and call for the better part of two weeks and his abrasive rudeness had begun to get to me.
The next morning we began the job of landing soldiers, supplies and most importantly, as far as I was concerned, the horses. My job was to help find the French and I needed Sergeant Sharp and another horse to enable me to do so. The captured French horse was not of the best quality. It was no Maria that was for sure.
I hovered close to the tent where Sir Arthur was conferring with his senior officers. I watched as the sailors began to row the soldiers ashore. It was a disaster! Half naked sailors had to lunge into the foaming surf to rescue soldiers flung from overturned longboats. The soldiers were not used to the violence of the sea and many were lost before they had even set foot in Portugal. For once I could not help.
Midshipman Pennock came ashore from the ‘Crocodile’ with some of the supplies we had left aboard. He strode up to me confidently and handed me some coins. “Here you are sir. Francisco said he kept his word.”
“Francisco?”
“The owner of the bar sir. He was a nice chap.”
“And you spoke with him?”
“A little sir. Between his English and my Portuguese we understood each other. Will it be worth continuing my lessons sir?”
“I think we will be here for some time to come Middy so yes.”
He nodded, “Then I will continue.” There was a sudden shout from behind us as another longboat overturned pitching ten red coated soldiers into the sea. ”This isn’t good sir. Is this usual?”
“It is the first landing I have seen and I am just grateful that the French are not here!”
The senior officers seemed oblivious to the disaster just yards away from their tent. I wondered just how long it would take. “Middy, which ship has the horses on?”
“That one there I think sir.”
“Right, take me out to her if you please. Sharp!”
“Sir!”
“Come with me.”
We rowed to the ship and I saw that the horses were waiting to be unloaded. The troopers were watching, nervously from the rail. I climbed up the tumblehome. As soon as they saw my uniform they all saluted. The captain came over to me, “Yes sir? Who are you?”
“I am Major Matthews the aide to Sir Arthur Wellesley.”
He seemed satisfied and some of his annoyance at the uninvited guest disappeared. “How can I be of service?”
“I take it you wish to be rid of these horses?” I knew from Captain Dinsdale that sailors like their ships clean.
“If I had my way I would hurl the stinking animals from the side but their officers do not think it right.”
I nodded, “Sergeant Sharp go and find the senior officer and ask him if he will come over for a moment.”
“You have something in mind?”
“If we try to load the horses into longboats the boats will be overturned and the crews may well be injured. Even worse, so far as I am concerned, we would lose valuable horses which we cannot replace.”
“What else can we do?”
“Sir?”
I turned and saw a captain and a lieutenant of the 20th Light Dragoons. I wondered if their blue uniforms might cause a problem.
“I am Major Matthews, 11th Light Dragoons and Sir Arthur’s aide. You are?”
“I am Captain Harold Goodwin and this is Lieutenant St.John Hart.”
“How many men do you have?”
“Forty troopers from 1st Troop A squadron sir.”
“I was just explaining to the captain here that the horses may react badly to a longboat.”
“That they will, sir.”
“Captain, how close can you take your ship in?”
“Our draught means I can get to about a hundred yards or so from the beach; if I put a man with a lead in the bows.”
“If you do that we can swim the horses in.”
Captain Goodwin said, “Sir! That is madness! They will drown.”
“I can assure you they will not.” I turned back to the ship’s captain. “What do you say, Captain?”
“We’ll give it a go. First Lieutenant, prepare to hoist anchor and signal the flagship to tell him we are moving station.”
I leaned over the tumble home. “Mr Pennock, We are going to move and then swim the horses ashore. Would you be so good as to stand by in case I get into difficulties?”
“Aye, aye sir!”
Lieutenant Hart said, “Sir? You are going to swim ashore?”
“I
am Mr Hart.”
“But you are a major!”
I laughed, “And majors can get just as wet as Lieutenants. Sergeant Sharp, get your boots off, we are going swimming.”
“Righto sir.”
By the time we were in position we were stripped down to our shirts and overalls. “Captain Goodwin, if you send a dozen of your troopers ashore they can watch the horses after we land them.”
I think the poor officer was too bemused to argue and he ordered his troopers into the long boats.
As soon as the first horse was in the sling I stood on the tumblehome. “You have the next one sergeant. Er Captain Goodwin, what is the name of this horse?”
He did not know but his troop sergeant shook his head and said, “Blackie sir.”
“Thank you sergeant …?”
“Smith sir and I can swim. Can I help?”
“Of course you can. The more the merrier. Just watch Sharp and me. We have done this before. Well here I go!”
I jumped from the side and disappeared beneath the Atlantic which seemed like ice after the war air of the land. It was colder than I had expected. I bobbed to the surface, spluttering, and waved to the crew. “Lower away!”
The horse came slowly down. The sailors were being as thoughtful as they could be. As soon as it was in the water I swam next to it. I stroked its muzzle, “There Blackie. There’s a good horse.” I kept talking as I grasped the reins in my left hand and undid the knots on the sling with my right. The Royal Navy knew how to tie good knots. That meant they could be untied. The sling fell free. I pulled Blackie’s head around and lay flat along his back with my feet over his rump. “Go on old chap.” I kicked both sides of his rump with my bare feet and he began to swim to shore. The waves and the tide made it easy. I should not like to do this in reverse but it was not so hard going with the tide. The waves did not strike his head and he could see the shore.
Pennock and his men stroked next to us. “Are you alright sir?” I saw the concern on his face.
“I am indeed, Mr Pennock. We will be fine. Be so good as to go back and wait for the sergeant. Sergeant Sharp will manage but Sergeant Smith may find it difficult.”
I saw the troopers ashore as they shouted encouragement. One of them was up to the waist in the foam and he was shouting to Blackie. The horse swam harder. The trooper grabbed the bit and said, “Thank you sir. I didn’t think he would do it.”
“Your horse, trooper?”
“Yes sir. I can’t swim else I would have done it.”
“He’s a good horse and he will not be afraid of water anymore.” I gave him the reins and stepped out of the sea. The air felt much warmer. I turned and saw Sharp half way across and Smith about to jump in. I looked around for another boat to take me back out but there were none. I would have to wait until Midshipman Pennock returned. Sergeant Smith was finding it more difficult than Sergeant Sharp who was almost at the shore. Then, to my amazement I saw another trooper stripped and preparing to jump into the sea.
When the Midshipman arrived, with Sergeant Smith, four of the troopers who were close by came up to me. “Sir, our horses are still on board and we can swim. Can we bring them in?”
“Of course you can. I would leave your clothes here though.”
And so Sergeant Sharp and I did not need to bring ashore any more horses. The two officers did not bring any across but the troopers seemed to enjoy the experience and by late afternoon we had all their mounts and the five remounts safely landed.
I had just dressed when Sir Arthur walked up to me. “Just when I think I know all there is to know about you then you surprise me again. I must admit you have helped considerably. We now have scouts.”
“They will need a day or two to get their legs sir.” I pointed to the soldiers who had just landed. They were staggering around like drunken men. “And the horses too.”
“Annoyingly, you are correct again. As soon as you can I want you to lead a patrol south and find the French. Oh and I want you to brief the senior officers in the morning.” He waved an irritated hand towards the ships and boats still coming ashore. “God knows how long it will take us to land everyone. If Johnny Frenchman had a bit more about them we would have been attacked already!”
When Captain Goodwin and his lieutenant arrived ashore I took them to one side. “I am afraid you will not have long to adjust to life ashore. We have just two days to have the horses ready for a patrol.”
“We sir? I thought you were the general’s aide.”
Obviously Captain Goodwin did not relish taking orders from an officer from another regiment. There was no time for such niceties. “Until you hear differently, Captain, then you will take orders from me. This troop is the only cavalry we have and, as such, we are the eyes and ears of the whole army. We have nine thousand men coming ashore. Junot has more than three times that number available to him. Until Sir John Moore lands and General Spencer reaches us from Gibraltar then we have to do the job of a Light Brigade.”
I could see that he was chastened and I had not made a friend. I had enough friends. I needed men who would obey my orders. I was happier with the men. My actions in swimming Blackie across appeared to have impressed them. Sergeant Sharp and the troop sergeants had bunked in together and I knew he would be singing my praises. The officers could be as awkward as they liked so long as the troopers obeyed me.
The next morning I made sure that my uniform was as clean as I could make it. I knew that I would be judged on my performance. There were General Hill, General Ferguson, General Nightingale, General Bowes, General Craufurd, and General Fane seated in the tent with a couple of colonels. They all listened intently to all that I said but Colonel Lake looked to be bubbling with excitement. He could barely keep his seat. It was disconcerting to watch him. Some of the generals kept flashing him irritated looks. When the General asked for any questions it was Colonel Lake who bombarded me with questions. He was desperate to get to grips with the French. Eventually General Wellesley had had enough. “Colonel Lake we will find the French eventually and Major Matthews will find them for you but we are still unloading the damned ships. I am just glad that Major Matthews was able to get the horses ashore safely.”
Colonel Lake subsided. General Hill asked, “Can we expect any Portuguese help? It is their country, after all.”
“Colonel Trant is somewhere south of us with two thousand men and I hope that Major Matthews can find them tomorrow.”
When the briefing was over I asked, “Who is Colonel Trant sir?”
“He is like you, Matthews. He is a British major who has been appointed a Colonel in the Portuguese army. You two should get on. He commands a brigade of Portuguese troops. They are somewhere north of here.”
“I thought you wanted me to scout south, sir?”
“I do and when you have found the French then you can find our allies.” Sir Arthur set high standards for everyone.
In the event we did not need to find Colonel Trant. Even as we headed south his weary brigade marched into the camp to swell our numbers.
I took my new command south to Leiria. I had seen no French there on my solo scouting expedition but who knew if they would have arrived in the intervening days. As we rode into the village I ordered skirmishers out. “Captain Goodwin, skirmishers.”
Sharp and I rode up to the largest building in the town. I rapped smartly on the door. I was lucky. I had found the Prefeito. Once again, my use of the Portuguese language made us welcome. And I discovered that the nearest French were either in Lisbon or closer to the Spanish border. We were in no immediate danger.
I pushed on more confidently now and we made good time. We camped in the hills above Torres Vedras. I saw a French flag flying from the top of a tower. I summoned the officers and sergeants of the troop. “We have found the French. There is a tricolour above the fort.” They looked at me expectantly. “Sergeant Sharp and I will go down for a closer look. Captain Goodwin you will hold the troop here. I should be back before dark
but I may be delayed.”
“What happens if you are not back by the morning sir?”
“Then you will return to the General and tell him that we have found the French.”
“Then why don’t we just go back now sir and tell him that?”
“Because the men and horses are tired and we need them to rest but, more importantly, the general needs the numbers of the French and that is what we will do.”
“My men could do it sir.”
“Unless they speak French and Portuguese as well as knowing how to identify the French units I think not. The sergeant and I have done this before.” I turned to Sergeant Smith, “Make sure you have pickets out and no fires. It will be cold rations.”
“Sir.” I could rely on Smith. He reminded me of my own troop sergeants.
We made our way along the track which led through the woods. As soon as the woods thinned out a little we entered them. It soon became obvious that there were soldiers camped in the vicinity. We could smell the wood fires. I found a dell and dismounted. We took off our Tarleton helmets and left them on the saddles. If we were seen our tunics might be mistaken for French blue n the fading light. I led Sharp up the slope. I did not envy the French soldiers. The ground was not level and they would have had a hard job to erect tents. I suspected, as it was now summer, that many of them had not bothered with tents.
The darkness which had descended aided us. I knew that there would be cavalry pickets out as well as infantry. It was another reason for leaving our horses behind. A strange horse could alert the vedettes. I saw a glow as we neared the first of their camps. The trees and the undulating land made it difficult to ascertain numbers but we had their position. The tricolour had told that the town was occupied. The camp told us that it was a French army.
I gestured right and we moved along the edge of the darkened forest. I counted on our blue tunics and grey overalls hiding us in the forest. I could see that the camp was a mixture of light and regular infantry. We kept moving around the edge to see if we could identify regiments. A whiff of horse manure reached me. We were close to horses. That meant there were cavalry too. The tree line was further from this camp and I saw the horse lines. The horses were a clue as the regiments but the saddle clothes confirmed it. They were Chasseurs à Cheval and Dragoons. I had seen enough. If there were cavalry and infantry then there would be artillery. Napoleon Bonaparte loved his cannon and he would not send an army to Portugal without artillery support.