1808: The Road to Corunna

by Griff Hosker

  They all seemed clear and I hoped that my plan was as cunning as I hoped it would be.

  Chapter 15

  We reached the unmanned fort before dawn. “Now I am assuming there will be no more than eight hostages.”

  Cornet Williams asked, “How do you know sir?”

  “The coach could only hold a maximum of eight and it would have been crowded. We should have two spare horses at least. Remember Cornet, that you will need to be close enough to the gate before they close it. There are places for you to hide close to the wall. If you hear shots then get to the gate as soon as possible.” I saw him biting his lip nervously. I leaned in and said quietly, “Trust Sergeant Seymour. He will not let you down.”

  I let the others head to the castle in dribs and drabs. I intended to have us arrive over the whole day to avoid suspicion. There would be thirteen of us this time. Sharp and I left in the middle of the day. It happened that when we reached the gate they were in the process of changing the guard. The bell was tolling twelve. As luck would have it, it was the same pair we had met the previous night. We had to wait until the guard was changed.

  “How is your father?”

  I shook my head, “Not so good. I have come to get some stronger medicine.”

  “Why not ask for a doctor to visit?”

  I pointed to the hills. “Until the guerrillas are dispersed there will be no doctor’s visits.” He waved his arm to let us pass.

  “You have a different servant today.”

  “Yes Jorge had too much wine last night. It is my fault I allowed him too long in the town.” He nodded as though he understood the problems of servants. “You have a long shift ahead of you, my friend.”

  “No I we will not be on as long today. Our shift finishes at the four o’clock bell. It is the others who will be on until eight.” He smiled, “Perhaps I will have too much wine tonight.”

  I noted his words. They would help us to escape. The gate would be closed at eight. We needed to strike by seven.

  The Portuguese were spread out in pairs around the perimeter of the building. Luis and the other troopers would be in the bar across from the cathedral. I walked past our watchers. Each gave me the barest of nods as I passed. There was nothing to report.

  When I reached the square I took out a cigar and went to the candle on Luis’ table. I spoke so quietly that only he could hear. “We must be gone before eight.”

  He nodded. “No one has left yet.”

  I turned and walked out with Sharp. There was a fountain and water trough close by the cathedral and I sat there and smoked the cigar. Our horses drank. It looked natural. I began to tell Sharp my usual jokes. He had heard them all before but it looked more natural to passersby. He dutifully laughed at the appropriate moments. The bell tolled for two o’clock and Sharp gripped my arm. It was the scar faced man and two of his men. I took a drag on my cigar as they passed and listened.

  The Colonel Laroche pointed at a small shop. “Tell Gerard that he needs to buy some more cheese we are running out.”

  “Yes colonel.”

  “Fool! Do not use my title.”

  They entered a small place which I knew served food. I stood and stretched. That was the signal and Luis and his men left the bar and collected their mounts. I handed the reins to Sharp. “Wait here for Luis. I will not be a moment.”

  I slipped inside the shop and bought a round of sheep’s cheese. When I reached the others I said, “Luis you and Sharp come with me. Follow my lead. The others can follow with the horses in five minutes. If we are not inside within five minutes then we will have failed.”

  After the horses were collected we walked down the narrow street. “You two walk a little way behind me. Sharp tell Luis one of my jokes. Watch for my signal and have your knives ready.”

  As I entered the small square I saw the two men looked at me suspiciously. I sauntered nonchalantly across the square as though I had all the time in the world. I heard Sharp’s boots behind me but the focus of the two men was on me.

  “Go away!”

  I feigned outrage, “The man with the scar; the colonel he paid me to deliver this cheese to someone called Gerard.” I shrugged, “If this is a mistake then I have a fine cheese and a silver coin for my trouble.”

  Their guard relaxed, one put his arm out while the other opened the door a little, “No, this is the place. Give me the cheese and be on your way.”

  Both men were looking at the cheese. I held it in my left hand and then dropped it. As I expected they both cursed and reached down for it. I reached down too but I reached for my stiletto. I pushed the nearest man back against the door which swung in and ripped my blade across his throat. Before the other sentry could utter a sound, Luis had him pinioned and Sharp had cut his throat.

  The other troopers arrived with their horses. “Take the horses to the stable. Leave two men on guard and bring the rest in. Bring these bodies inside. No guns. Just knives.”

  Luis grinned, “That is how we like it, colonel.”

  It was a grand house. The door we had used led to a large vestibule. I drew my sword and slowly opened the door. I could rely on Sharp to cover me. The hall was empty. I stepped in and quickly examined the exits. There was a large double stairway leading to a balcony which ran around the entrance hall. It was obviously the place Colonel Laroche had watched his men the other day. There were three doors leading off on the ground floor. I nodded and pointed to Sharp who took the one on the far right. I took the one on the left. I opened it slowly and saw narrow steps leading down stairs. I could hear the sound of someone singing. That would be to the kitchens. I was guessing that Gerard was down there.

  I turned to signal to Luis. I drew my finger across my throat and pointed downstairs. He nodded and tapped two of his men on the shoulders. I had worked out that there would probably be ten men in all. The old man in the village had estimated a dozen but there were only enough horses for ten. Two were dead and three were in the square. That left five. Assuming that there was at least one in the kitchen we could expect another four.

  Sergeant Sharp shook his head. I moved towards the last door. I slowly opened it a fraction and I listened. I heard voices. I guessed it was two men. I turned and held up two fingers. Luis and Alan nodded. I pushed the door open and leapt into the room. Two men were sitting on chairs with their feet on footstools. They were smoking cigars and drinking brandy. They stared in shock as the three armed men ran into the room. I ran one through and Luis killed the second while Sergeant Sharp despatched the third. They had been relaxing and were taken totally by surprise.

  As we entered the hall again the two men Luis had sent to the kitchen stood there. One held up one finger while the other clutched a bleeding arm. Luis went to the wounded man and fashioned a crude bandage around his arm then pointed him to the stables. He left. There were now four of us against two. I guessed that they were upstairs.

  We slowly climbed the stairs. This was the difficult part of the escapade. It they came out they would see us and raise the alarm. I guessed that the commander of the fortress was complicit in all of this. We could not afford the alarm to be raised. He might not want the hostages on public display but the scar faced colonel would have alerted him to their presence. A gunshot would bring soldiers running and the game would be up.

  There were four doors and another set of stairs leading up to the next floor. I went to the first door and listened. I heard no sounds from within. Luis, his trooper and Sharp went to the other three. Suddenly Luis’ arm came up and he waved us to the far doorway.

  I scurried across the landing. I could hear the buzz of conversation. This would be the hardest task so far. We had no idea what the hostages looked like. We would have to play this by ear. I put my hand on the door and eased it slowly open a fraction. The sounds of the voices became louder and I heard a French voice shout, “I hope that is lunch Gerard, we are starving!”

  That was my cue. I flung open the door and leapt in. The voice had com
e from my left and I saw a soldier with a pistol in his belt. He went to grab it. I knew that he was not a hostage. My sword slashed across him and his throat erupted in a fountain of blood. There was a scream. I turned and saw at least three women and some well dressed men. It was alike a tableau; they were frozen with shock. Luis was pulling his sword from the last guard.

  One of the men dropped to his knees and began to splutter, “Please do not kill us! Please!”

  I heard Donna Maria’s exasperated voice, “Don Francisco, be a man and compose yourself. These are our saviours and not our killers.”

  She was seated in a large chair. I went to her. “Are you hurt Donna Maria?”

  “Just a little tired.” She held out her hand and I kissed it. ”I know not how you managed it but I knew that you would come.”

  Suddenly we heard the bell tolling three o’clock. “Are there any more guards?”

  “How many have you seen, Robbie?”

  “We have accounted for ten.”

  “Then you have them all. Three of them left a few days ago for Madrid.” She chuckled, “Hopefully the guerrillas will have had them.”

  Our early rescue had caused problems. We could not get the hostages out until we had disposed of the guards at the gate. It was too risky to do before they changed. And then there was the problem of Colonel Laroche and his men. They would be returning soon.

  “Luis, send a man to Cornet Williams. Tell him to move to the gate when they hear the bell toll four o’clock.” He nodded and disappeared. “The rest of you get your things. We are escaping.”

  The man who had begged for his life, a man as old as Donna Maria asked, “How? We are in a French fortress.”

  “I have men outside. We will ride out of here.”

  The man shook his head. “I am too old to ride!”

  “Then stay here and die!” Donna Maria covered her mouth to hide her smile at my command. I turned to face the hostages. “All of you listen to me. We have one chance to get out of here and that means all of you doing exactly as I say. I will not risk my men’s lives for any of you if you disobey me.” I looked at each face in turn. There were three young women and another who was middle aged. There were two men; Don Francisco and a younger man who looked to be related for he had features which looked similar. They all nodded. “Good. It will take us three days to reach Lisbon. Get all the clothes that you can carry for it may be cold. You ladies had better split your skirts. We have no side saddles.” They all looked equally shocked. “You men, get a sword and a pistol from the dead Frenchmen.”

  They were now too shocked to argue and they began to obey. Donna Maria helped the women to adjust their dresses. “Alan, you take them to the horses. Get them mounted and then wait. We escape after they have changed the guard.” He nodded. “Luis, you and I will remain in the house with two others. We have the last three Frenchmen to deal with and I suspect they will be the hardest.”

  We got them downstairs and Luis ran to the narrow alley while they slipped out and went around to the stables at the rear. Even if something happened to us they would, at least, have a chance of escape. The gate was open and they could ride down the two guards. I preferred a silent and unseen escape if I could manage it. Miraculously we managed to achieve our objective.

  “Now, Luis, leave the front door open.” As he did so I picked up one of the first two men we had slain. “Bring a chair from inside the room.” The two men manhandled the chair and I put the man in it. I positioned him so that he looked as though he was asleep. “Do the same with the other two.”

  “I do not understand. What are you doing?”

  “When they return to the house, they will see no guards and the door open. They will be suspicious and they will enter with drawn weapons. When they see their men asleep their leader will be angry but he will lower his guard, quite literally. That is when we strike.” I pointed to the door. “Two of us on each side. Their attention will be on these two. Luis, you take the far side.”

  The men had finished with the bodies. I went into the room with the two dead men and brought out their cigars, still smoking, and the brandy. I jammed the cigars in their mouths and the brandy glasses in their stiffening fingers. A little bandy spilled out but when I looked back at them they looked like two guards who had fallen asleep.

  I had no idea of the time but knew it was getting close to four o’clock. If Laroche had not arrived by the time the cathedral bell was tolled then we would leave. It was unsatisfactory but my priority was the hostages.

  Annoyingly we could not see who was approaching the door. Both of them were solid and there were no side windows. We had to wait for the bell to toll or the door to be thrust open. We all had swords drawn and I had my stiletto in my left hand. If this colonel worked for Fouché then he would be a tough customer.

  I heard voices. “Jacques! If you are asleep I will cut out your heart!”

  Just then the bell began to toll and the door opened. I knew that we would have to wait until they entered before we could attack them; too early and they would flee and raise the alarm.

  “Your drunken pair! Gerard! Get up here now you imbecile!”

  Scarface came in last. As the two others strode over to what they thought were drunken friends, Luis and one trooper leapt out at them. I lunged forward too. A heartbeat ahead of me the trooper standing next to me slashed at Scarface. The colonel’s sword flashed and arterial blood flooded from the throat of the dead Portuguese. I flicked the sword away. But Colonel Laroche was good. He used the riposte and lunged at me. I had been taught by the best and he did not catch me out.

  His eyes narrowed as we faced each other. “Who are you? A bandit or an assassin?”

  I did not answer. I had my hands full with him. The other guards were struggling on the floor with Luis and the Portuguese trooper. The colonel dropped his eyes and then swung his blade at head height. I just managed to step back and as the blade scraped across my shoulder I quickly stabbed forwards and my blade grated off his kneecap. He suppressed a shout as blood dripped to the floor.

  I watched as he gritted his teeth. “You have skill and I believe you are a soldier; what are you English, Spanish or Portuguese?”

  Again he used his words to try to unsettle me. He lunged forward again even as he was speaking but his wounded knee did not give him the support he needed and the blade fell woefully short. I feinted to his left and, as he moved his blade to defend against my blow, I stabbed him in the stomach. “Scottish actually!”

  One of the guards was about to stab an unconscious Luis and I stabbed him in the back. There was just one Portuguese trooper left. “Get the captain to the horses and I will join you.”

  The dying colonel looked up at me. “Who are you?”

  “Someone who hates Fouché and Bonaparte in equal measure. Go to God!” The man was dying and I ended his misery by piercing his throat. I reached down and prised the sword from his dead hand. I had a home for that weapon.

  The square was empty. I had thought the noise of combat would have alerted someone but it was still as quiet as the graveyard it had become. Once I reached the stables I made sure that Luis was tied securely on to his horse. “Come Sharp, let us try our acting again.” I turned to Luis’ sergeant. “Count to fifty and then bring out the hostages. Head to the right when you get out. My men will be there.”

  “Yes colonel.”

  “Robbie, take care!”

  “I will Donna Maria.”

  As we stepped out I put my dagger in my left hand. “We are drunk. Try just to incapacitate them. We will sing a French song. ” Sharp’s accent could be atrocious but when he sang it did not matter. We staggered towards the gate and the sentries shook their heads and began to laugh. The slurring of our words seemed to fit in with two drunks.

  I held my dagger so that the hilt was in my palm and the blade was up my sleeve. I raised my arms as I approached them. “My friends! I have won ten Louis at dice. I am a rich man.”

  “You are a
drunken man!”

  I had my right fist closed as though it contained coins. I held it before me. “If you do not believe me see the money!”

  As one of the soldiers leaned forward I smashed down on his temple with my dagger. Sharp’s sentry was made of sterner stuff and he stayed on his feet. I lifted the musket which the falling sentry had dropped to the floor and I hit him hard on the back of the head. He went down and stayed down. I emptied the powder from the pan and then rammed the barrel into the dirt. It would need cleaning before it could be fired. I whistled and the troopers arrived. I saw Luis had a bandage on his head but he was upright and riding his horse. I threw my leg over the saddle of the French horse and we galloped out of the fortress.

  “Keep low in case anyone shoots from the ramparts.”

  We had only seen a few sentries on the walls which surrounded the city and I counted on their eyes being drawn further from the fortress than the bottom of the walls. I was the last to trot through the gate and out of Badajoz.

  Chapter 16

  It was almost an anti-climax when we met Cornet Williams and my men close to the ford. As I had expected the blue uniforms had deceived, albeit briefly, the French guards on the ramparts. We were half way along the wall before the alarm was raised. A couple of muskets popped away at us but we were too far away for them to hit us. I had already decided that we would get over the border before we even thought about stopping. The French were no respecters of borders but they might worry about Anglo-Portuguese forces being present.

  “Sharp, stay here and see if we are pursued.”

  “Sir.”

  Trooper Harrison led Badger. I would change to him as soon as I could and I would change into my uniform. Both acts would make me feel better.

  The older man, Don Francisco, complained the whole way. The women, Donna Maria apart, were obviously terrified but they hung on gamely. Don Francisco kept shouting at us to stop and rest.