Chapter 6: Salamanca
1. 1st Lieutenant William Lister served at Walcheren, Salamanca, Vitoria (slightly wounded), the Pyrenees, Bidassoa, Nivelle, Nive and Toulouse. He was killed at Quatre Bras.
2. The Portuguese Douro River is actually called the Duero in Spain.
3. The Light Dragoon brigades were reorganised on 1 July with the arrival of the King’s German Legion cavalry. Anson’s Brigade consisted of 11th, 12th and 16th Light Dragoons and Victor Alten’s Brigade consisting of 14th Light Dragoons and 1st Hussars KGL.
4. The French general officer, one General Carrie commanding a brigade of French dragoons, was actually captured in an action with the 1st Hussars KGL.
5. Costello, the True Story of a Peninsular War Rifleman p.189. Eileen Hathaway has understandably misidentified him as Lieutenant John Gardiner, but he did not arrive in Spain until January 1813. Our James Gairdner however was present. The confusion between these two persons with similar surnames in the same battalion often leads to misidentification and has challenged the editor on many occasions.
6. Captain John Mc Dermid served at Corunna, Bussaco, Fuentes d’Oñoro, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, he was slightly wounded at Badajoz.
7. Captain Charles Smyth originally served in the peninsula with the 11th Foot but joined the 3/95th then 1/95th in 1812. He was severely wounded at the Nivelle and died of wounds on 18th June 1815, from a wound received at Quatre Bras.
8. Captain Jeremiah Crampton who served at Rolica, Vimiero, Bussaco, Fuentes d’Oñoro, Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz where he was severely wounded.
9. Marmont had been severely wounded in the right arm, but it was not amputated.
10. Montejo de Arevalo?
11. General de Division Claude Francois Ferey had been mortally wounded at the Battle of Salamanca.
12. 1st Lieutenant John Hopwood served at Bussaco, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vitoria, the Pyrenees, Bidassoa and Nivelle. Hopwood was severely wounded at Vitoria and was killed at the Battle of the Nive.
13. 1st Lieutenant Jonathan Layton served at Corunna, Fuentes d’Oñoro, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca and Waterloo where he was wounded.
14. Leach believes there were about a thousand sick.
15. Assistant Surgeon William Jones served virtually throughout the entire Peninsular War, initially with the 95th, transferring as a surgeon to the 40th Foot in September 1812.
16. A flogging.
17. I have not been able to identify this village.
18. I have not been able to identify this village.
19. Gairdner mixes two incidents in Chapter 15 of Cervantes’ Don Quixote, the knight and his faithful companion Sancho Panza get into an altercation with a number of goatherds from Yanguas and are severely beaten. Moving on they arrive at an inn which Don Quixote mistakes for a castle and it is here that Sancho Panza gets rolled in a blanket.
20. In the novel ‘L’Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane’ by Alain-Rene Lesage, the hero is imprisoned in the tower of Segovia.
21. Lieutenant James Fraser 79th Foot who saw service at Salamanca, Burgos, the Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive and Toulouse. He was severely wounded at Toulouse and again at Quatre Bras.
22. 1st Lieutenant Andrew Pemberton who had served at Walcheren, Corunna, Bussaco, Fuentes d’Oñoro, Salamanca, Vitoria and the Pyrenees where he was severely wounded.
23. This former china manufactory was transformed into a major fortification and when captured was found to house a huge amount of military stores including two eagles.
24. Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Lord Fitzroy Somerset, Wellington’s Military Secretary served through the Peninsular War and lost his arm at Waterloo. Later as Lord Raglan he commanded the army in the Crimea, where he died of dysentery.
Chapter 7: Retreat
1. This information was inaccurate as after his defeat at Fuentes de Oñoro in May 1811, Masséna was not actively employed again by Napoleon.
2. 1st Lieutenant John Budgeon served at Walcheren, Corunna, Cadiz, Tarifa, Barrosa, Vitoria, Pyrenees, Bidassoa (slightly wounded), Nivelle, Nive, Orthes and Toulouse. He also served at Waterloo.
3. Captain George Watts 3rd Dragoon Guards, served at Albuera, Usagre and Toulouse.
4. The Spanish General Don Carlos de Espana, there is no evidence of him being a traitor.
5. Established in 1574 to train Irish priests, the college closed in 1951.
6. Gairdner is slightly in error here. Captain Jeremiah Crampton served at Rolica, Vimiero, Bussaco, Fuentes d’Oñoro, Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz where he was severely wounded and died of these wounds in September 1812.
7. The New Cathedral of Salamanca was consecrated in 1733.
8. The impressive Plaza Maior was completed in 1755.
9. 2nd Lieutenant Walter Firman served at Badajoz and Salamanca.
10. A British Rifleman, p.255.
11. Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Cameron served at the Helder, Egypt, Baltic, Vimiero, Corunna, Bussaco, Fuentes d’Oñoro, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vitoria (severely wounded) and Waterloo (wounded).
12. 1st Lieutenant Thomas Macnamara, served at Buenos Aries, Rolica, Vimiero, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vitoria, the Pyrenees, Bidassoa, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes Toulouse and Waterloo.
13. 1st Lieutenant John Molloy served at Rolica, Vimiero, Salamanca, Vitoria, the Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Toulouse and Waterloo. He was wounded at the latter.
14. Captain Harry Smith who was Brigade Major, served at Buenos Aries, almost the entire Peninsular War, Bladensburg, Washington, New Orleans and Waterloo. He wrote his own very entertaining memoirs.
15. These men had been arrested by the provost for stealing foodstuffs; it is hard to condemn them, however, given that they were literally starving.
16. 1st Lieutenant Dugald Cameron served at Salamanca, Vitoria, the Pyrenees, Orthes, Toulouse & Waterloo.
17. Lieutenant General Sir Edward Paget was renowned for being very short sighted. He had served in Flanders, the naval action of St Vincent, Minorca, Egypt, Corunna and was severely wounded at the Douro. After his capture here, he was held captive for eighteen months until the end of the war.
18. Lieutenant General Sir William Erskine committed suicide at Lisbon in May 1813.
19. Lieutenant Thomas Macnamara served at Buenos Aries, Rolica, Vimiero, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vitoria, Pyrenees, Bidassoa, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse & Waterloo.
20. Captain Henry Dawson 52nd Foot served at Corunna, Bussaco, Fuentes d’Oñoro, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz and Salamanca, before dying at San Milan.
21. Lieutenant George Ridout 43rd Foot served at Bussaco, Fuentes d’Oñoro, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz (severely wounded). He was severely wounded again at San Milan and died of his wounds in November 1812.
22. Leach p.94.
23. This would appear to be Villar de Arganan.
Chapter 8: Winter Quarters
1. 2nd Lieutenant John Doyle joined the 95th having originally been a volunteer with the 5th Foot. He served at Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vitoria, Pyrenees and Nivelle where he was mortally wounded.
2. The fortress of Real Fuerte de la Concepcion is a star fortress found half a mile west of Aldea del Obispo.
3. Now known as Puerto Seguro.
4. ‘A Val is a certain written form signed by the commissary of the division, and given to the quarter master of a regiment, who inserts therein the number of officers of each rank present with the corps, requiring their regulated quota of forage, and countersigns it, and delivers it to the officer of the foraging party to give to the owner of the crop of corn, from which the forage is taken. This Val is paid on demand by the Paymaster or Commissary General. Many, very many of these Vals were never presented for payment, the owners not troubling themselves. Some were sold to the camp followers for a mere trifle; the sutlers were said to be the chief purchasers and to make a good market thereby’. Reference Charles Crowe An Eloquent Soldier, p.93.
5. The 29th Foot forme
d part of this battalion for a very short period, before returning to Britain.
6. 2nd Foot or Queens Regiment.
7. 1st Lieutenant John Gardiner served at Walcheren, Vitoria, the Pyrenees, Bidassoa, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse and Waterloo, where he was wounded. Because of his similar surname to our James he is often confused with him by historians.
8. 1st Lieutenant James Percival served at Vitoria, Pyrenees and San Sebastian where he was severely wounded.
9. 1st Lieutenant John Cox served at Rolica, Vimiero (wounded), Bussaco, Fuentes d’Oñoro, Ciudad Rodrigo (severely wounded), San Millan, Vitoria (severely wounded), Pyrenees, Bidassoa, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes & Tarbes (severely wounded). The editor has been seeking permission to publish the Cox brother’s diaries for many years without success.
10. General Francisco Ballesteros commanded Spanish divisions in the South of Spain, fighting stubbornly at Albuera. Unwilling to accept a foreigner as supreme commander of the Spanish army, he mutinied and was imprisoned at Ceuta.
11. The glorious news was the retreat of Napoleon’s army from Moscow. His army of over half a million men emerged from the snows of Russia counting less than 50,000.
12. Fought over three days 3-5 May 1811.
13. She stoops to Conquer, a comedy by Oliver Goldsmith was first performed in 1773.
14. Lieutenant General Thomas Maitland commanded the army that had landed on the East coast of Spain in 1812, but found that he could do little against overwhelming numbers of French troops and he requested to be relieved of his position. This drew criticism which obviously caused him to call for a court martial to look into his actions. He was appointed Governor of Malta and he became well known for his autocratic but reforming zeal, being known locally as ‘King Tom’.
15. The Rivals, a comedy by Richard Sheridan was first performed in 1775.
16. It was true that Napoleon had ordered a significant reduction of the army in Spain to form a nucleus on which to form new regiments following the Russian disaster.
17. A farce produced in 1803 by James Kenney.
18. A farce produced in 1800 by John Allingham.
19. A comedy written in 1653 by James Shirley.
20. A farce written in 1783 by John O’Keefe.
21. Major General Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole was invested as a Knight of the most Honourable Military Order of the Bath.
22. Major General James Kempt served in the Helder, Egypt, Calabria, Maida, Badajoz, Vitoria, Bidassoa, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse and Waterloo
23. Napoleon’s brother had been placed on the Spanish throne by Napoleon but was not given command of his armies, leading to poor coordination of the French efforts in Spain.
24. Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet, 1st Duc of Albufera, was one of Napoleon’s most reliable marshals and one of only a few he could trust in independent command.
25. Marshal Jean de Dieu Soult was a very able general and was probably Wellington’s most formidable opponent amongst Napoleon’s marshals.
26. Lieutenant General Sir John Murray had extensive service in Flanders, Cape of Good Hope, Egypt, India, Oporto and Talavera, before being given the command of the army in Eastern Spain. He had initial success in defeating Marshal Suchet at the Battle of Castalla, but he failed to follow up his victory. His force was then landed near Tarragona to lay siege to this important post. But frightened by rumours of French relief columns caused Murray to reembark, spiking and abandoning his siege train in the rush. He was later courtmartialled and found guilty of abandoning the guns without reason, but it does not seem to have harmed his new chosen career in politics.
27. General de Division Marie-Francois Auguste de Caffarelli du Falga had spent much of his career as an aide de camp of Napoleon but now commanded a division in Northern Spain.
28. General de Division Jean Baptiste Drouet, Comte d’Erlon was later to become a major player in the Battle of Waterloo.
29. General de Division Joseph Souham.
30. Paymaster John McKenzie served at the Coa, Bussaco and Fuentes d’Oñoro. He went home in May 1813 but served again at Waterloo.
31. A play written in 1756 by Arthur Murphy.
32. General Francisco Castanos 1st Duke of Bailen, who forced a French army under Dupont to surrender and later played a significant part at the Battle of Albuera.
33. 2nd Lieutenant Allen Stewart served at Vitoria, Pyrenees, Bidassoa, Nivelle, Nive, Toulouse and Waterloo where he was wounded.
34. The Blues are the Royal Horse Guards.
35. The combat on the Coa occurred on 24 July 1810. General Craufurd held his brigade in front of a steep valley with only one narrow bridge behind him over the Coa River and when attacked by Ney’s entire corps only escaped annihilation by the narrowest of margins.
Chapter 9: The Great Advance
1. I have been unable to identify this village.
2. This could well be Private Michael Clements of the 95th who subsequently received a General Service Medal for the Nive, Orthes and Toulouse. As a servant with the baggage, he would not have been eligible for a bar for those battles he was present at but in the rear.
3. General de Division Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune.
4. British soldiers were routinely vaccinated for smallpox before being sent on foreign service, hence they were better equipped than the Portuguese to use the village to rest in.
5. General de Division Eugène-Casimir Villatte, Comte d’Oultremont.
6. Major General Victor Baron Alten was the elder brother of Major General Charles Baron Alten. He was a Hanoverian in the British army and commanded a brigade of cavalry in the Peninsula.
7. This refers to the Action of Morales where a rearguard of French dragoons under General Digeon was surprised and Major George Robarts immediately charged bringing on a short and sharp clash. As many as 212 of the French 16th Dragoons and ten horses were cut off and captured. The cost: Lieutenant John Cottin, one trooper and four horses killed, with Captain James Lloyd wounded and captured along with regimental Quarter Master Cowley and seventeen men and twenty-three horses wounded or missing.
8. Captain Charles Lennox Earl of March 52nd Foot was an extra aide de camp to the Duke of Wellington. He was sent home with despatches following the actions of Salamanca, Astorga and the Pyrenees. He was severely wounded at Orthes. He served at Waterloo as an extra ADC to the Prince of Orange.
9. Marshal Jean Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan.
10. Gairdner’s note – this is false, for he commands a part of the Russian Army.
11. Lieutenant General Lord George Dalhousie who commanded the 7th Division at Vitoria, the Pyrenees & Bidassoa.
12. Captain the honourable Arthur John De Ros 1st Foot Guards who served as an extra aide de camp to General Graham.
Chapter 10: San Millan
1. Private Costello records a very odd incident here, when a German Hussar of the King’s German Legion recognised his brother amongst the wounded French cavalrymen brought in.
2. It was the 5th Division that attacked them here.
3. The gap in the extant journals would indicate that a small pocket diary used perhaps to record any incidents during his recuperation and certainly to resume his narrative on his return to the battalion unfortunately appears to be lost. The fact that the subsequent journal simply continues mid discussion shows that he did maintain another journal during this period, even if with some difficulty because of his wounded arm.
4. He was issued a bar for the Pyrenees on his General Service Medal when issued in 1848.
Chapter 11: Into France
1. Pedro Agustín Girón, 4th Marquis de las Amarilas, Duque of Ahumada (1778–1842) was a Spanish military officer and politician. Francisco Tomás de Anchia Longa (1783 – 1831) was a Spanish guerrilla whose troops formed a brigade in 1813 and he became a general.
2. 2nd Lieutenants Alexander Campbell and John Hill were both killed in the attack on Vera.
3. NAM Reference 6902-5 (2)
4. Note
by Gairdner - Several straggling farm houses that go by the name of Sarla.
5. Lieutenant Mackay Baillie 43rd Foot was killed and Captain Samuel Hobkirk 43rd was wounded and made a prisoner of war until the end of the war in April 1814.
6. Probably news of the defeat of Napoleon by the allies at Leipzig 16-18 October 1813.
7. French: A defensive obstruction made of felled trees.
8. A Board of Survey was organised to assess the quality and state of equipment or foodstuffs supplied to the army.
Chapter 12: The Battle of the Nive
1. Lieutenant General Sir John Hope commanded 1st Division.
2. Lieutenant General Galbraith Lowry Cole commanded 4th Division.
3. Second Lieutenant James Church was surrounded with a group of men in a hollow and remained a prisoner of war until April 1814. He did however serve at Waterloo the following year.
4. Adventures in the Rifle Brigade p.136.
5. Captain Henry Lee served at Corunna, the Coa, Bussaco, Vitoria, Pyrenees, Bidassoa, Nivelle, Nive, Toulouse and Waterloo.
6. 1st Lieutenant John Cox.
7. I have been unable to identify this place.
8. Barbette – A protective mound of earth for artillery, over the parapet of which cannon may fire.
9. Costello, p.257.
10. General Sir William Schaw Cathcart 1st Earl Cathcart, had previously served as Commander in Chief Ireland and led an expedition to Hanover in 1806 and Copenhagen the following year. He became Ambassador and Military commissioner to the Russians and served at the allied headquarters during 1813-14 receiving his earldom for this service.
11. Charles William Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry was Envoy Extraordinary to the Prussian court.
12. Major General Lord Matthew Aylmer commanded an independent brigade.
13. Wellington’s army was regularly many months in arrears with its pay.
14. The Austrian Field Marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg, had overall command of the Grand Army of Bohemia.
15. Russian Field Marshal, Count Michael Barclay de Tolly commanded the Russian forces that entered France.
16. Russian General Peter Wittgenstein.
The American Sharpe Page 29