All four men watched the French squadron of hussars begin their scouting duties for their infantry. One troop went ahead with their scouts out in front. A second troop followed in support, trying to remain just within sight. The rest of the squadron walked their horses in two columns, within sight of their infantry, but gradually drawing farther away, as if impatient with the snail-like progress of the plodding foot soldiers.
It appeared now, that the long column of infantry was complete. MacKay looked across at Cholmondeley. “Ye’re always good wi’ numbers, Algy. Tell me if ye agree wi’ my count.”
Cholmondeley grinned cheerfully. “I wager you’ve reckoned them accurately to the nearest half-dozen, Sir. I’d say two thousand infantry, as near as dammit.”
MacKay broke into spanish for the benefit of Quintana, but addressed Gonçalves as well. “What about you, Gentlemen. Do you think Chumley has the correct number? Two thousand is it, Fernando? Colonel?”
Gonçalves nodded. “Within a hundred either way, Sir.”
Quintana quickly grasped what the original question in english had been. “I am sorry, General MacKay, I was counting companies. There are sixteen of them. I think that is the same as Captain Choomlee said.”
MacKay grinned. He wondered if Quintana had ever seen Cholmondeley’s name written down. He could imagine him choking, trying to pronounce it. “I think so as well. Gentlemen and it leaves me with something of a problem.
I have agreed with General Santocildes that his infantry must learn to fight and beat the French with the minimum apparent assistance from the Hornets, but of course it is understood that they do have to beat them.
Those troops must represent almost all the garrison of Benavente, according to your reports, Fernando?”
“That is correct, Sir. I do not suppose that many have been left in the town.”
“We shall not know until later today if León is sending all its garrison.” MacKay scratched his head. “”If they do so, then the Spanish are likely to have a fight on their hands and end up being chased back into the mountains.
It seems to me that we have to take action against this detachment to stop them linking up. Let the León garrison fight its own battles. If Santocildes has picked a good defensive position and uses as marksmen the troops that we have trained, it could be the first Spanish success against the French since Bailén.” He went back into english.
“Algy! Benavente is going tae be left wi’ few defenders. Why dinnae ye take A Company and see if it is possible tae clear them out? It shall be maist satisfactory if their fellows down there hae nowhere tae retreat tae an’ we succeed in turning them back.”
* * *
MacKay watched A Company fade out of sight to go and stir up trouble at Benavente. He looked thoughtfully at Colonel Quintana while he made up his mind how he was going to deal with the large detachment marching towards Astorga.
“Colonel Quintana, we are about to attempt to stop those French soldiers from interfering with General Santocildes and his army, but first we have to deal with that squadron of hussars, preferably without their infantry being aware of the fact.”
He watched Quintana’s eyes light up. He really was becoming quite bloodthirsty since he had discovered what he could do with his horsemen.
“What is it you want us to do, General MacKay? My men are most anxious to show themselves worthy.”
“I should like you to be patient until you can take your men down onto the road behind the hussars without being seen by them or their infantry. As you can see, they are both gradually moving farther apart, but you may have to wait until they have almost reached La Bañeza before you get your chance.
While you are doing that, the Vespãos shall get ahead of them, hoping to trap them between us. Do you think that you can do it?”
He expected Quintana to say: “of course we can do it, shall we start now?” but this was a new, thinking Quintana. What he said was: “I am sure we can catch them between us, Señor General. I am not confident that I can take my men down between them without being seen by the horse or the foot.”
MacKay grinned. “Well said, Colonel. Your men are very visible but I had anticipated the problem. Captain Richter shall ride with you out of sight of the enemy, while half-a-dozen of his men observe the hussars and the infantry. They shall not be seen as easily as your men and can tell you when it is sensible to make your move. Feel free to ask Richter’s advice. He has done this sort of thing many times.”
The relief on Quintana’s face was so palpable that MacKay almost began to doubt whether he was yet ready to be entirely independent. He consoled himself with the thought that Richter would keep him from doing anything stupid, but he increased the half-dozen Vespãos to a full platoon. Gonçalves would still have a full company of four platoons to attempt the elimination of the hussars and see off the infantry, if the loss of their cavalry had not already sent them into a tactical withdrawal. He always felt it was a mistake to plan too far ahead. Too many times had he seen elaborate plans fail to survive the first half-hour of any engagement.
He had warned Richter to be tactful and let Quintana make his own command decisions. He did though, suspect that tact was more of a foreign concept to the Hanoverian than it was to himself. There again, Richter was at least five years younger than he was and only a captain. He had plenty of time to learn how to handle less competent, but still superior officers with firm respect.
The next valley to the east provided an easy route north for the Vespãos. All the rivers and streams in this region came south from the Cantabrian mountains and they were able to cross back over into the valley of the Órbigo, a mile or so south of La Bañeza.
It was gentle, rolling country south of the town and the middle of the summer had turned the river into more of a hindrance than an obstacle.
A few miles farther north, where Santocildes was waiting, there was a little more water to be seen flowing south, but the winter rains over many years had carved their way deeper into the stream bed and created natural defensive positions.
Here, MacKay would have to rely on clumps of thick woods and the shallow but rocky-bedded river to narrow the area of approach of the French troops through the wide valley.
In the end, he had to settle for a gap about six hundred yards wide and he left Gonçalves to set up the killing ground, in the happy realisation that all the Portuguese were now armed with the breech-loading Baker rifles. Two platoons, spread across the road ought to halt the approaching hussars and trap them in the corridor between the other two platoons, spread out on either side and lying quite invisibly, from discovery by the French.
Having got Gonçalves’ men settled in for a long wait with all their look-outs posted, MacKay took Gonçalves to find the highest point from where they could look south to see the approach of the French.
He needed time to think and he wanted someone with whom to compare ideas. Fernando was ideal. When they discovered a position giving a view for four or five miles down the road, they dismounted and relaxed. “Correct me if you think I am in error, Fernando, but I am making the assumption that the French not only want to attack Santocildes, but to do so they need to have their forces from León and Benavente attacking at the same time or they risk being beaten piecemeal.”
Gonçalves cocked his head on one side. “I can see no error in your reasoning thus far, Hamish. What exercises my imagination is how they can achieve a simultaneous attack when they are fifty miles apart and the detachment from Benavente has more than twice as far to march.”
MacKay smiled ruefully. “That is precisely the problem I had hoped that you might help with. All I can manage is that the commanding general in León must have ordered the detachment from Benavente to start at dawn today and be ready to attack sometime tomorrow morning. No doubt, you noticed that they were marching easy and shall have to bivouac tonight?
I’d give odds that they plan to attack tomorrow morning and that León is expected to be on the move at dawn, for a com
bined attack from the south and the east.”
“Once again, Hamish, I am unable to criticise your reasoning, however it does occur to me that were I the general at León, I should be unhappy to attack the Spanish unless I had been told that the Benavente detachment was in place to support me.”
“I accept that as a rational argument, Fernando. I should not myself be happy. It may be suggested, though, that the French have beaten the Spanish innumerable times with much smaller forces; that they hold them in contempt and may well think that the numbers that they have at León are sufficient for the task.”
They were both thoughtful for a minute or so, then MacKay grinned happily. “I do not think that we can afford to ignore that risk, Fernando. We have to alter all our plans. Those hussars have to be spared to carry the news to León that their Benavente infantry are poised on the Spanish flank.
What we have to do is reinforce the bridges at La Bañeza so that a moderate number of casualties shall persuade the French horsemen to continue up the eastern bank.
Send a message to Richter to shadow the infantry and ignore the hussars. They shall be the ones to bear the news to León that shall encourage them to attack Santocildes. We now have to work out how we stop the infantry when they break camp tomorrow morning.”
CHAPTER 20
Lord Wellington discovered that when Marshal Soult considered himself really threatened; as for example with the attempts to capture Badajoz; he was prepared to strip his captured principality of Andalucia of most of its fighting troops and speed to defend his interests.
However, when Badajoz was not being invested vigorously, he was content to assume that it was strong enough to defend itself. He had enough problems of his own with hostile garrisons at Cadiz, Tarifa and Gibraltar, Spanish armies on his borders and guerrilleros in his mountains.
He had rushed north to attack Beresford at La Albuera and had to withdraw after losing thousands of men. Beresford’s army was however left in no condition to continue the siege and Wellington himself had to come south with reinforcements to resume siege operations.
Again, this had provoked the French into an unusual display of unity, with Soult, Marmont and d’Erlon bringing their armies to the rescue.
Outnumbered, Wellington had taken his army into a strong defensive position and made the bold step of sending ten thousand Spanish troops back to Andalucia to frighten Soult into returning post haste.
His strategy had worked. Soult rushed back to Andalucia, leaving Marmont and d’Erlon. There was insufficient food in the Extremadura to keep the French armies there for more than a week or two. Marmont retired to the Tagus valley and d’Erlon lurked within striking distance in the region to the east. He had a small corps of about sixteen thousand men.
Wellington had to capture both the fortress towns of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz before he could carry the fight into Spain once more and the message from Soult could not be clearer.
Marmont, with the Army of Portugal, was prepared to go to the aid of Soult and d’Erlon to succour Badajoz. Soult and his subordinate d’Erlon were far too overstretched in Andalucia and simply not interested in supporting Marmont at Ciudad Rodrigo.
Wellington moved most of his army back to the Beira frontier where he could threaten Ciudad Rodrigo, but his immediate concern was the reorganisation of his army to accommodate the reinforcements, recently arrived from England. He had a siege train, which the French knew nothing about, that was on its way up the River Douro. With any luck, General Santocildes would keep the French Army of the North so busy that they would be unable to help Marmont. It was time to go into winter quarters and prepare for an assault on Ciudad Rodrigo as soon as possible in the new year.
He left General Sir Rowland ‘Daddy’ Hill in the mountains between Portalegre and Elvas. He left him with enough troops to match General d’Erlon, skulking off to the east and to keep the defenders of Badajoz unable to forage and living only off the supplies that they had stored. He also left Colonel Lord Vere, Lieutenant Colonel Roffhack and the Fourth Battalion of the Hornets, the German Hornissen.
Sir Rowland had missed La Albuera because of the fever he had caught when the army had been camped in one of Spain’s unhealthy river valleys. He did not intend that it should happen again and he set up his headquarters in the healthy hill town of Portalegre.
He kept a good table and was liberal with the entertainment that he offered his senior officers. Shortly after Wellington left though, he only had two guests. Vere and Roffhack were full of admiration for the general. Unlike many of his contemporaries he did his best to look after the welfare of his men and was thoroughly professional and reliable as a commander; Wellington’s first choice as a commander for detached service.
Conversation was certainly sociable during the meal. Both the Hornets were content and relaxed. Both of them knew that the invitation had been contrived to ensure that only they were present and were wise enough to wait patiently for Sir Rowland to bring the conversation round to what he wanted to discuss.
Towards the end of the meal, he drew them out on tales of their adventures and the tactics that they had developed to take full advantage of the improvements that they had made to their flintlocks. He knew full well that most of the German battalion was still using Roberto’s converted carbine muskets and not the Baker or Ferguson rifles.
It was only when the table had been cleared and they were relaxing with their drinks that he finally smiled benignly at them and got down to business.
“It should be foolish of me to insult your intelligence, Gentlemen, by pretending that this evening has occurred solely because I enjoy your conversation – which I do, but not to the extent of excluding others.
I am aware that Lord Wellington has suggested that a period of well earned rest for you is long overdue and I may only agree with him. He is doubtless happy to consolidate the position of his army around Ciudad Rodrigo and absorb the reinforcements that we have received from home.
After all, nothing of any moment is likely to happen until we have retaken Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz. I shall be amazed if he is ready to try that until next year. That leaves us all with a minimum of three months, while he sits and watches Marmont and we stay here and watch d’Erlon.
It does appear to me that a restless crew like yours shall find life somewhat tedious, being idle for so long? Vere glanced at Roffhack and they grinned at each other. Vere replied for them both. “We have both enjoyed your hospitality, Sir. Our intelligence is by no means insulted, rather complimented by your tact and patience in waiting until this moment.
Lord Wellington knows us very well. He encouraged us to grow to the size we are now. It shall interest you to know that he made almost identical observations, then suggested various options that we might pursue if we became bored.
Firstly, two squadrons of the Hornissen shall take it in turn to visit Lisbon for two weeks furlough. Secondly, we have rejected the idea of moving south to help the Spaniards harass Soult. Frankly, the quality of most of their generals is so indifferent that we find that many of them use the Hornets as a heaven-sent excuse for sitting back and doing nothing for themselves.
In any case, as you yourself have suggested, the next stage in the campaign has to be the capture of the two fortress towns.
Therefore and thirdly –” both he and Roffhack kept their faces perfectly composed, except perhaps for a glint of devilment that might have been detected in their eyes – “we were speculating about whether you may permit us to carry out some moderately aggressive reconnaissance for you?”
He went on hurriedly as he saw the great beam of satisfaction on Hill’s face. “We have noted that many cavalry reinforcements have arrived recently. We shall not be unwilling to lead out a couple of squadrons each week to show them how we do things.
That is, of course, only a suggestion, as I realise that General Erskine, as cavalry commander, shall need to sanction it and he is not overly fond of the Hornets. The question of seniority may also be
an issue. We shall need to have undisputed command of the scouting party.”
General Sir Rowland ‘Daddy’ Hill sat back in his chair and looked keenly at the two young officers. “I am of a mind that I may well have denied myself the pleasure of trying to coerce you with dinner. Admit it, Gentlemen, this is what you wanted to do from the beginning.”
The grins on the two faces was answer enough.
“Do not concern yourselves about Erskine. I shall instruct him to make two squadrons of the new boys available for reconnaissance duties, each week for the next four weeks. They shall be under the command of whichever of you is leading the detachment and subject to your orders, whether their commander is senior or not.
I now find that it is necessary to take you both into my confidence and to let you understand that although I have very detailed orders from Lord Wellington that cover almost every eventuality, I do not have to sit here and let d’Erlon do anything he wishes. I suspect that our forces are of equal numbers, give or take a thousand.
I also suspect that his orders require him only to watch and report, but if he comes too close I intend to drive him away. As you shall now be responsible for my reconnaissance, Gentlemen, I do believe you know my mind. It is such a relief that I do not have to spell everything out.
That is settled then. Now you can tell me a little more about this breech-loading device that your Spanish smith has invented. If it is simple enough that a private soldier may use it, I should be concerned that it could change the way warfare is conducted. That, surely, must only serve to terrify most of our general officers!!”
* * *
A and B Squadrons, with Vere and Major Hagen were on their way for a couple of weeks relaxation in Lisbon. Roffhack had the squadrons of Captain Müller and Captain Werther, together with two squadrons of light dragoons, newly arrived from England.
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