Can No One Win Battles if I'm Not There

by Geoffrey Watson

  Welbeloved and Roffhack surveyed the battlefield from the hills where the Fourth Division and the Hornissen battalion were waiting. It was very evident that Soult had deceived and outwitted Beresford, even though he could have had very little idea of the strength of the allied army opposed to him.

  It was a master plan and could yet succeed. A determined demonstration by ten thousand men against the village; the assumed centre of the allied position; had concentrated the allied reserves there and kept the Portuguese Division to the north, completely immobile, while they waited for the battle to develop.

  Then, screened by woods on the south-east of the Albuera stream, he attacked the allied right wing with two complete divisions in column, together with most of his cavalry.

  Waiting only until they were fully engaged, he withdrew a full division from before La Albuera and marched them south to support the battle against the allied right wing. In little over two hours, he had concentrated almost his entire army against the Spanish-held right wing, giving himself a local numerical advantage of nearly two to one.

  On the face of it, the Spanish should have been routed as they always had been, before Beresford could rush reinforcements to support them. This did not seem to be the case as the noise of the fighting sounded just as intense.

  Perhaps it was fortunate that the troops on the wing were the Spanish divisions that had marched up the Guadiana with Blake and those that had come from around Seville with Ballesteros. These were all veterans and had much to prove to their British allies, whereas the divisions closest to La Albuera comprised the demoralised and defeated remnants of the battle on the Gebora. They would surely have fled the field in the first ten minutes.

  The realisation that he had sent two companies of Hornets into this inferno was weighing heavily on Welbeloved’s conscience, but he swallowed his emotion and went looking for Cole.

  “It should appear, Sir Galbraith, that Soult has been remarkably astute in moving the entire battle to our south. No doubt yew have seen the French division from before La Albuera now moving south to join in the expected rout of the Spaniards?”

  “Indeed, Sir Joshua, we have always known that Soult is a master tactician and he has more than proved it today. I am convinced that we should have been ordered into the fight by now if we are to have any effect at all. I pray that General Beresford has not forgotten about us.”

  Welbeloved had already convinced himself of the necessary action to be taken and saw his opportunity. He kept his face composed, but carried a faint puzzled look.

  “The same thoughts had crossed my mind, Sir. Then I remembered that when I saw the general’s aides galloping to Alten and the Portuguese, I swung my glass across the plain and saw hundreds of French horsemen there. Do yew not think that the aide sent to yew may have been taken?”

  “Egad, Welbeloved! Here’s a fine pickle. It stands to reason that Sir William must have called for us and you must have the right of it. What are we to do? There are no orders and he may have his own reasons for holding us here.”

  “Yew must do what yew consider proper, General. I am prepared to swear that I saw his aide taken if yew need to justify yor advance, though if yew march, yew shall need to be protected going across that plain. It is swarming with enemy horse.

  I can offer five hundred mounted Hornets to cover yor front and one flank. Of course, yew shall advance in line, shall yew not? It shall be essential if yew are to meet that division that is about to join the fight. They shall need to be in column if they are to cover the ground in time.

  I note that yew have a squadron of dragoons that can cover yor rear and if yew use a couple of battalions of Harvey’s Portuguese in a fat column to guard yor other flank, they have enough fire power to keep the cavalry at bay.”

  Cole looked blank while he absorbed what Welbeloved was proposing. To give him credit, he never questioned the authority that Welbeloved had assumed to propose it. It was so obviously the right thing to do that he accepted it as his own decision.

  “Do you really have enough men to guard my front and one flank, Welbeloved? There are swarms of French horse out there. Rather more than you have if I’m any judge.”

  “If yew march in line, Sir Galbraith, most of my men shall be in front. Anything less than a thousand horsemen shall be stopped dead, believe me.”

  Partly reassured, Cole nodded distractedly and started to give his orders. Welbeloved trotted back to the Hornissen and grinned at Roffhack.

  “Lowry Cole is going to advance across that plain, marching in line, Günther. Yor job is to stop any of those Frog horsemen out there from touching the front or left flank. When we get near to the enemy infantry, be ready to dismount and skirmish.”

  Roffhack was enormously cheerful. “Very good, Sir Joshua. Did you have to use your riding crop to get him to move?”

  Welbeloved laughed. Roffhack could read the tactical situation as well as anyone by now. “Not a bit of it, Günther. We both knew what had to be done. All I did was suggest that the enemy had intercepted the orders that must have been sent.”

  Roffhack really laughed then. “The Condesa shall be most proud of you when I tell her, Sir.”

  He rode off and deployed his battalion in line of troops along the front of the assembled infantry. D Squadron was on the extreme left with two troops in line and two troops in column following and guarding the relatively shallow flank.

  There were over five thousand men in Cole’s division. It took twenty minutes before they were all deployed in line, with a couple of fat columns of Portuguese on the right flank and Hornissen and dragoons on the other three sides.

  It was awe inspiring from where Welbeloved was riding in the centre with Lowry Cole. A vast block of colour, predominantly red, with the rich brown of the Portuguese on the flank and every man carrying a long musket with fixed bayonet gleaming brightly whenever the sun came from behind the clouds.

  The men were all marching easily by companies; four ranks in open order, so that they could close up into two lines when in close contact with the enemy. There should be no doubt in the mind of the enemy about their intention and Soult could not help but see the red tunics and flashing steel, moving out of hiding and into contention, no matter whatever point of observation he was using.

  As if playing a gigantic game of chess, he had to find troops to face this suddenly discovered threat, or risk having his already engaged, exhausted divisions harried from the field.

  Communications on any battlefield could only be at the speed of the fastest horse. Soult may have seen the Fourth division suddenly advancing, but he then had to get his orders to his commanders and his commanders had to move their divisions, regiments, battalions, squadrons in the right direction and disengage from whatever they were doing before.

  Whatever could be said about the poor standard of training of the individual French recruit, their large masses of men, their corps, their divisions and their brigades were in the hands of professional soldiers who became generals, by and large, on merit and experience.

  Welbeloved was discussing this with Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole as they walked their horses south, in the middle of the advancing division. “I shall wager that Soult saw us even before we had moved two hundred yards out of those hills, Sir Galbraith. He has no option but to react to yor move and the only force he has that is not already engaged, is the one we saw leaving La Albuera and moving toward the action in front of us.

  He has to get his orders to them and they have to turn and move toward us. Should yew not agree that we shall not see them for the best part of an hour?”

  If Cole was having his own misgivings, it was not apparent and he seemed to welcome the chance to talk. “I am drawn towards your argument, Sir Joshua. When last I saw them, they were marching south on the other side of the stream, which suggests that they intend to follow the divisions already engaged. But what is it that makes you so sure that Soult has no other large reserves?”

  Welbeloved looked surprised. �
��All the reports that have come in from the guerrilleros in the Sierra Morena put his strength; after much sifting; at about twenty thousand infantry and four thousand cavalry. This was reported to General Beresford. I had assumed that he had shared this information with yew.

  Ten thousand were used for the opening demonstration in front of La Albuera and that left him ten thousand and probably three thousand horse to attack the same number of Spaniards and far fewer cavalry on our right wing.

  I get this feeling that he hasn’t realised that Blake and his divisions have already joined us. His brilliant tactics and his superb cavalry have given him the initial advantage, but the sight of your division, intact and advancing ought to be giving him conniptions right now.”

  Cole’s eyebrows raised. “Conniptions? I don’t know the word, but I gather your meaning. What surprises me is that we have been ignored by all the cavalry that we see before us.”

  Welbeloved shrugged. “Do yew not presume that the cavalry commanders also have not yet had their orders from Soult? His individual units are all fully engaged with the battle in progress and are no doubt looking for easier conquests than a full division marching with blood in its eyes.

  I speculate that we shall hear the bugles from the cavalry commander’s command position at any time soon. He shall need a strong force to mount any sort of challenge on us and shall require them to return under his close orders before they set out.”

  Hardly had he finished speaking than a whole series of bugle calls echoed across the plain and troops and squadrons of horse could be seen detaching themselves from the fighting and moving together to form a mass of cavalry on their distant right front.

  Cole immediately sent a galloper to warn Harvey that his Portuguese column should be ready to repel a cavalry attack. Then he looked at Welbeloved as if to ask why he was not doing the same with his own men.

  Welbeloved casually pointed to where Roffhack was waving his bonnet in acknowledgement of his signal. Cole also saw that all the Hornissen in the rear line of each troop had removed their dragoon helmets and were wearing their standard brown bonnets. He made no comment.

  So many bugles were sounding that it was impossible to pick out one call from another. No doubt each unit was close enough to their own bugler to obey the correct call. At any event, it appeared as though they had deployed to the satisfaction of their commander, as only one call could now be heard, the refrain picked up by each squadron bugler.

  The whole mass started to trot toward the advancing line of red and brown tunics. As they did so, one mass was seen to move out and toward the right flank of the marching line, where the column of Portuguese was performing the unusual drill of priming their muskets while on the march. Presumably they had already loaded ball and powder, as no use of ramrods was to be observed.

  The second group quickly resolved itself into a line of squadrons across Cole’s front. It was a mixed bag of squadrons. Chasseurs, dragoons and one squadron of lancers, seven in all, becoming separate units and advancing in tight squadron blocs, appearing to target the right of the line, where the protective column and the line met.

  To co-ordinate their attack, the flanking group was already cantering, watched closely by the commanders of the frontal attack, who held their men to a trot.

  At six hundred yards, Roffhack blew four loud blasts on his whistle and the two right hand squadrons of Hornissen halted in line. The bonneted second line dismounted and ran forward as skirmishers, while the first line spoke quietly to their mounts, patting and soothing them into as near stillness as they were able.

  Major Hagen, in command of the left-hand squadrons, encouraged them to continue trotting until they formed an extended scoop, into which the enemy horse was, hopefully trotting.

  They were quickly in position. The second line of riders also dismounted and ran through, to go to ground in front of the now single curved line of mounted Hornissen. Brown tunics and dragoon helmets, allied to enormous drooping moustaches, made them look like survivors of the Vandals, Goths and Huns that had crossed their homelands in conquest, many hundreds of years before.

  Welbeloved watched all this in fascination. He knew that Vere had introduced innovative cavalry training to the Germans, but had not observed it in action before.

  The Fourth Division came to a halt and Welbeloved heard orders being given to the columns on his right. He half expected them to form square against the cavalry, but with the greatest coolness they were remaining in column and using the whole flank of the column as one side of a square.

  He played his glass back over the cavalry to his front. It occurred to him that many of them would have had bad experiences against MacKay’s Hornets around Seville. He watched them closely for any signs of hesitation, but realised that in their minds, a full battle could not be compared with any such minor engagements. After all, they could see only a thin line of horsemen in front of four thin lines of infantrymen; almost a cavalryman’s dream.

  At four hundred yards, when the French were still at the canter, he heard Roffhack’s whistled signal for all the skirmishers to fire when they had a target in range. Even with Roberto’s new cartridges at maximum range, no one would have time to fire more than two shots and each one had to count. Thoughtfully, he loaded and primed his Ferguson, just in case.

  Maximum killing range for the carbine muskets was now two hundred and fifty yards and that coincided with the French bugle calls to signal a charge at the gallop.

  The skirmishers fired a very ragged, but sustained volley. They were firing in pairs, but the second man only waited for a couple of seconds and the whole of the first, double volley lasted no more than five seconds, during which time, two hundred and fifty aimed shots brought down a quarter of the attacking horses and riders.

  Everyone had aimed low to make sure that either the horse or the rider was hit. Many of the casualties were caused by horsemen stumbling over fallen comrades. Of the lancers, more than half went down. Infantrymen and skirmishers had a horror of those long lances and the Poles received a disproportionate amount of attention.

  The charge dissolved into chaos, but there were still several riders who were in the grip of the excitement engendered by the insistent notes of the charge that had never stopped being sounded by the buglers.

  The confused mass tried to pick up speed, while the skirmishers reloaded, then at a hundred yards, every carbine in the hands of every mounted Hornet, blasted its ball at the swarm of riders.

  The French were now in the embrace of the curved line of Hornissen and were being shot at from the front and side. Most of them were giving up and turning away by the time the skirmishers had reloaded and Roffhack waited for the end of their second volley before whistling for the mounted Hornissen to holster their carbines, draw their swords and charge in their turn.

  Everything had happened so quickly that the anticipated co-ordinated attack from the flank was only now within range of the Portuguese column. The sound of two quick volleys sent the survivors into a sullen retreat.

  The mounted Hornissen had very little exercise. Making sure that the French were retiring in unseemly haste, they gave up the chase after a few hundred yards and returned just as their comrades were remounting and forming into line once more.

  The division resumed its advance, having stopped for less than ten minutes. Lowry Cole was ecstatic. “I do congratulate you, Sir Joshua. I have never seen such a magnificent action. I have to admit that I only half believed in the effectiveness of your new tactics and weapons, even after seeing you in action at Buçaco. But I was several hundred yards away then,” he added reflectively.

  “I can now see why the Peer does not want your brigade to come under the control of any of his generals. They wouldn’t; myself included; know what to do with them.”

  “That is most civil of yew, Sir Galbraith. Unfortunately, what yew say is only too true. Those who do not understand, wish us out of existence. If not for the support of Lord Wellington, we should still be a
strange, Royal Marine guerrilla unit of thirty men, as we were three years ago. I doubt that we shall be allowed to survive the end of this war.”

  Cole was uncharacteristically cheerful. “Cheer up then, man. That gives you at least another ten years before we see Boney off.”

  Welbeloved pointed off to the front and grinned. “That forecast depends to a great extent on those fellows in front of us. I must say though, they do look as if they are giving us an advantage. What do yew think? Three brigades in three columns? They cannot possibly deploy into line in time.

  I wager that they have nearly twice as many men as in yor line, but yew shall have five times as many muskets as they can bring to bear.

  May I request the honour of taking the Hornets ahead as skirmishers? I can undertake to keep the heads of their columns quiet until yew close with them. Just get yor lads to walk over us as we lie and we can then fade away back through yor ranks.”

  Cole blinked at him. “If that is your desire, Sir Joshua, I am yours to command. I see no French skirmishers in front of this column. It shall be a pleasure to serve the Frogs with a dose of their own medicine.”

  Welbeloved grinned and dismounted, carrying his Ferguson. Cole looked horrified. “You’ll surely not be going yourself, Sir Joshua?”

  The grin grew wider. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Sir Galbraith. This is really what the Hornets are good at.”

  The appearance of Welbeloved, on foot and carrying his Ferguson, was greeted with cheers by the Hornets. Within minutes, the horses had been led to the rear and left in the charge of the wagon train drivers and escorts. There were three French columns to contend with. Roffhack took A Squadron on the right. Welbeloved led B Squadron and Major Hagen had C Squadron on the left of the line.

  Captain Werther and his D Squadron spread out in troops behind as a tactical reserve, instructed to guard against any cavalry interference and support any other squadron that might be hard pressed.