Under Wellington's Command: A Tale of the Peninsular War

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 17: Ciudad Rodrigo.

  "Before O'Connor begins," the colonel said, "you had better lay, onthe table in front of you, the pocket maps I got from Lisbon foryou last year, after O'Connor had lectured us on the advantages ofknowing the country.

  "I can tell you, Terence, they have been of no small use to ussince we left Torres Vedras; and I think that even O'Grady couldpass an examination, as to the roads and positions along thefrontier, with credit to himself.

  "I think, gentlemen, that you who have not got your maps with youwould do well to fetch them. You will then be able to followColonel O'Connor's story, and get to know a good deal more aboutthe country where, I hope, we shall be fighting next spring, thanwe should in any other way."

  Several of the officers left the room, and soon returned with theirmaps.

  "I feel almost like a schoolmaster," Terence laughed. "But indeed,as our work consisted almost entirely of rapid marching, which youwould scarcely be able to follow without maps, it may really beuseful, if we campaign across there, to know something of theroads, and the position of the towns and villages."

  Then he proceeded to relate all that had taken place, firstdescribing the incidents of the battle, and their work among themountains.

  "You understand," he said, "that my orders were not so much to doinjury to the enemy, as to deceive him as to the amount of ourforce, and to lead them to believe it to be very much stronger thanit really was. This could only be done by rapid marches and, as youwill see, the main object was to cut all his lines of communication,and at the same time to show ourselves, in force, at points aconsiderable distance apart. To effect this we, on several occasions,marched upwards of sixty miles in a day; and upwards of forty,several days in succession; a feat that could hardly be accomplishedexcept by men at once robust, and well accustomed to mountain work,and trained to long marches; as those of my regiment have been, sincethey were first raised."

  Then taking out a copy of his report, he gave in much fuller detailthan in the report, itself, an account of the movements of thevarious columns and flying parties, during the first ten days; andthen, more briefly, their operations between Burgos and Valladolid,ending up by saying:

  "You see, colonel, there was really nothing out of the way in allthis. We had the advantage of having a great number of men who knewthe country intimately; and the cutting of all their communications,the exaggerated reports brought to them by the peasants, and themaintenance of our posts round Salamanca and Zamora while we wereoperating near Burgos and Valladolid, impressed the commanders ofthese towns with such an idea of our strength, and such uneasinessas to their communications that, after the reverse to their column,none of them ever ventured to attack us in earnest."

  "That is no doubt true," the colonel said, "but to have done allthis when--with the reinforcements sent up, and the very stronggarrison at four of the towns, to say nothing of the division ofBurgos--they had forty thousand men disposable, is a task thatwanted a head well screwed on. I can see how you did it; but thatwould be a very different thing to doing it, oneself.

  "However, you have taught us a great deal of the geography of thecountry between the frontier and Burgos, and it ought to be useful.If I had received an order, this afternoon, to march with theregiment to Tordesillas, for example, I should have known no morewhere the place stood, or by what road I was to go to it, than ifthey had ordered me to march to Jericho. Now I should be able to gostraight for it, by the shortest line. I should cross the roads atpoints at which we were not likely to be attacked, and throw outstrong parties to protect our flanks till we had passed; and shouldfeel that I was not stumbling along in the dark, and just trustingto luck."

  "Now, colonel, we must be off to our own quarters," Terence said."We have been too long away now and, if I had not known thatHerrara and the majors were to be trusted to do their work--and infact they did it well, without my assistance, all the time I wasaway prisoner--I could not have left them, as I did, half an hourafter they had encamped."

  The next morning Terence received a copy of the orders of the dayof the division, at present, under General Crawford's command;together with the general orders of the whole army, fromheadquarters. In the latter, to which Terence first turned, was aparagraph:

  "Lord Wellington expresses his great satisfaction at theexceptional services rendered by the Minho Portuguese regiment,under its commander Captain T. O'Connor, of the headquarter staff,bearing the rank of colonel in the Portuguese army. He has hadgreat pleasure in recommending him to the commander-in-chief forpromotion in the British army. He has also to report veryfavourably the conduct of Lieutenant Ryan, of the Mayo Fusiliers,and Ensigns Bull and Macwitty, all attached for service to theMinho regiment; and shall bring before General Lord Beresford thatof Lieutenant Colonel Herrara, of the same regiment."

  In the divisional orders of the day appeared the words:

  "In noticing the arrival of the Minho Portuguese regiment, underthe command of Colonel Terence O'Connor, to join the divisiontemporarily under his command, General Crawford takes thisopportunity of congratulating Colonel O'Connor on the mostbrilliant services that his regiment has performed, in a series ofoperations upon the Spanish side of the frontier."

  Four days later, Terence received two letters from home. These werewritten after the receipt of that sent off by him on his arrival atCadiz, narrating his escape. His father wrote:

  "My dear Terence,

  "Your letter, received this morning, has taken a heavy load off ourminds. Of course, we saw the despatches giving particulars of thebattle of Fuentes d'Onoro--which, by the way, seems to have beenrather a confused sort of affair, and the enemy must have blunderedinto it just as we did; only as they were all there, and we onlycame up piecemeal, they should have thrashed us handsomely, if theyhad known their business. Well, luck is everything and, as you havehad a good deal more than your share of it since you joined, onemust not grumble if the jade has done you a bad turn this time.

  "However, as you have got safely out of their hands, you have noreason for complaint. Still, you had best not try the thing toooften. Next time you may not find a good-looking girl to help youout. By the way, you don't tell us whether she was good looking.Mention it in your next; Mary is very curious about it.

  "We are getting on capitally here and, I can tell you, the oldplace looks quite imposing, and I was never so comfortable in mylife. We have as much company as I care for, and scarce a daypasses but some young fellow or other rides over, on the pretenceof talking over the war news with me. But I am too old a soldier tobe taken in, and know well enough that Mary is the real attraction.

  "My leg has now so far recovered that I can sit a horse; but thoughI ride with your cousin, when the hounds meet anywhere near, Icannot venture to follow; for if I got a spill, it might bring onthe old trouble again, and lay me up for a couple of years. I usedto hope that I should get well enough to be able to apply to be puton full pay again. But I feel myself too comfortable, here, tothink of it; and indeed, until I have handed Mary to someone else'skeeping, it would of course be impossible, and I have quite made upmy mind to be moored here for the rest of my life. But to return.

  "Of course, as soon as I saw you were missing, I wrote to an oldfriend on the general staff at Dublin, and asked him to write tothe Horse Guards. The answer came back that it was known that youhad been taken prisoner, and that you were wounded, but notseverely. You were commanding the rear face of the square intowhich your regiment had been thrown, when your horse, which wasprobably hit by a bullet, ran away with you into the ranks of theenemy's cavalry. After that we were, of course, more comfortableabout you, and Mary maintained that you would very soon be turningup again, like a bad penny.

  "I need not say that we are constantly talking about you. Now, takecare of yourself, Terence. Bear in mind that, if you get yourselfkilled, there will be no more adventures for you--at least, noneover which you will have any control. Your cousin has justexpressed the opinion that she does not think yo
u were born to beshot; she thinks that a rope is more likely than a bullet to cutshort your career. She is writing to you herself; and as her tongueruns a good deal faster than mine, I have no doubt that her penwill do so, also. As you say, with your Portuguese pay and yourown, you are doing well; but if you should get pinched at any time,be sure to draw on me, up to any reasonable amount.

  "It seems to me that things are not going on very well, on thefrontier; and I should not be surprised to hear that Wellington isin full retreat again, for Torres Vedras. Remember me to thecolonel, O'Driscoll, and all the others. I see, by the Gazette,that Stokes, who was junior ensign when the regiment went intoaction at Vimiera, has just got his step. That shows the changesthat have taken place, and how many good fellows have fallen out ofthe ranks. Again I say, take care of yourself.

  "Your affectionate Father."

  His cousin's letter was, as usual, long and chatty; telling himabout his father, their pursuits and amusements, and theirneighbours.

  "You don't deserve so long a letter," she said, when she wasapproaching the conclusion, "for although I admit your letters arelong, you never seem to tell one just the things one wants to know.For example, you tell us exactly the road you travelled down toCadiz, with the names of the villages and so on, just as if youwere writing an official report. Your father says it is veryinteresting, and has been working it all out on the map. It is veryinteresting to me to know that you have got safely to Cadiz but, asthere were no adventures by the way, I don't care a snap about thenames of the villages you passed through, or the exact road youtraversed.

  "Now, on the other hand, I should like to know all about this youngwoman who helped you to get out of prison. You don't say a wordabout what she is like, whether she is pretty or plain. You don'teven mention her name, or say whether she fell in love with you, oryou with her; though I admit that you do say that she was engagedto the muleteer Garcia. I think, if I had been in his place, Ishould have managed to let you fall into the hands of the Frenchagain. I should say a man was a great fool to help to rescue anyonehis girl had taken all sorts of pains to get out of prison.

  "At any rate, sir, I expect you to give me a fair and honestdescription of her the next time you write, for I consider yoursilence about her to be, in the highest degree, suspicious.However, I have the satisfaction of knowing that you are not likelyto be in Salamanca again, for a very long time. Your father says hedoes not think anything will be done, until the present Ministryare kicked out here; and Wellington hangs the principal members ofall the Juntas in Portugal, and all that he can get at, in Spain.

  "He is the most bloodthirsty man that I have ever come across,according to his own account, but in reality he would not hurt afly. He is always doing kind actions among the peasantry, and the'Major' is quite the most popular man in this part of the country.

  "I have not yet forgiven you for having gone straight back toSpain, instead of running home for a short time when you were soclose to us, at Jersey. I told you when I wrote that I should neverforgive you, and I am still of the same opinion. It was too bad.

  "Your father has just called to ask if I am going on writing allnight; and it is quite time to close, that it may go with his ownletter, which a boy is waiting to carry on horseback to the postoffice, four miles away; so goodbye.

  "Your very affectionate cousin, Mary."

  The next two months passed quietly at Pinhel. Operations continuedto be carried on at various points but, although several encountersof minor importance took place, the combatants were engaged ratherin endeavouring to feel each other's positions, and to divine eachother's intentions, than to bring about a serious battle. Marmontbelieved Wellington to be stronger than he was, while the latterrather underestimated the French strength. Thus there were, on bothsides, movements of advance and retirement.

  During the time that had elapsed since the battles of Fuentesd'Onoro and Albuera, Badajos had been again besieged by theBritish, but ineffectually; and in August Wellington, takingadvantage of Marmont's absence in the south, advanced andestablished a blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo. This had led to somefighting. The activity of General Hill, and the serious menace tothe communications effected by Terence's Portuguese and theguerillas, had prevented the French from gathering in sufficientstrength, either to drive the blockading force across the frontieragain, or from carrying out Napoleon's plans for the invasion ofPortugal. Wellington, on his part, was still unable to move; owingto the absence of transport, and the manner in which the Portuguesegovernment thwarted him at every point: leaving all his demandsthat the roads should be kept in good order, unattended to;starving their own troops to such an extent that they werealtogether unfit for action; placing every obstacle to the callingout of new levies; and in every way hindering his plans.

  He obtained but little assistance or encouragement at home. Hismilitary chest was empty. The muleteers, who kept up the supply offood for the army, were six months in arrears of pay. The Britishtroops were also unpaid, badly supplied with clothes and shoes;while money and stores were still being sent in unlimitedquantities to the Spanish Juntas, where they did no good whatever,and might as well have been thrown into the sea. But in spite ofall these difficulties, the army was daily improving in efficiency.The men were now inured to hardships of all kinds. They had, inthree pitched battles, proved themselves superior to the French;and they had an absolute confidence in their commander.

  Much was due to the efforts of Lord Fitzroy Somerset, Wellington'smilitary secretary who, by entering into communication with thecommanders of brigades and regiments, most of whom were quite youngmen--for the greater part of the army was but of recentcreation--was enabled not only to learn something of the state ofdiscipline in each regiment, but greatly to encourage and stimulatethe efforts of its officers; who felt that the doings of theirregiment were observed at headquarters, that merit would berecognized without favouritism, and that any failure in thediscipline or morale of those under their orders would be notedagainst them. Twice, during the two months, Terence had been sentfor to headquarters, in order that he might give Lord Fitzroyminute information concerning the various roads and localities,point out natural obstacles where an obstinate defence might bemade by an enemy, or which could be turned to advantage by anadvancing army. The route maps that he had sent were frequentlyturned to, and fully explained.

  The second visit took place in the last week in November and, onhis arrival, the military secretary began the conversation byhanding a Gazette to him.

  "This arrived yesterday, Colonel O'Connor; and I congratulate youthat, upon the very strong recommendation of Lord Wellington, youare gazetted to a majority. Now that your position is so wellassured, there will be no longer occasion for you to remainnominally attached to the headquarter staff. Of course, it wasbefore I came out that this was done; and I learned that theintention was that you would not act upon the staff, but it was tobe merely an honorary position, without pay, in order to add toyour authority and independence, when you happen to come in contactwith Portuguese officers of a higher rank."

  "That was so, sir. I was very grateful for the kindness that LordWellington showed, in thus enabling me to wear the uniform of hisstaff, which was of great assistance to me at the time; and indeed,I am deeply conscious of the kindness with which he has, on everyoccasion, treated me; and for his recommending me for promotion."

  "I should have been personally glad," Lord Fitzroy went on, "tohave had you permanently attached to our staff; as your knowledgeof the country might, at times, be of great value, and of your zealand energy you have given more than ample proofs. I spoke of thematter to the general, this morning. He agreed with me that youwould be a great addition to the staff but, upon the other hand,such a step would very seriously diminish the efficiency of theregiment that you raised, and have since commanded. The regimenthas lately rendered quite exceptional services and, under yourcommand, we reckon it to be as valuable in the fighting line as ifit were one of our own; which is more than can be said for anyothe
r Portuguese battalion, although some of them have, of late,fought remarkably well.

  "I do not say that Colonel Herrara, aided by his three Englishofficers--who, by the way, are all promoted in this Gazette, thetwo ensigns to the rank of lieutenants, and Mr. Ryan to that ofcaptain--would not keep the regiment in a state of efficiency, sofar as fighting is concerned; but without your leading, it couldnot be relied upon to act for detached service such as it hasperformed under you."

  "Thank you, sir. Of course, it would be a great honour to me to beon the general's staff, but I should be very sorry to leave theregiment and, frankly, I do not think that it would get on wellwithout me. Colonel Herrara is ready to bestow infinite pains onhis work, but I do not think that he would do things on his ownresponsibility. Bull and Macwitty have both proved themselveszealous and active, and I can always rely upon them to carry out myorders to the letter; but I doubt if they would get on as well,with Herrara, as they do with me. I am very glad to hear that theyand Mr. Ryan have got their steps. The latter makes an admirableadjutant, and if I had to choose one of the four for the command Ishould select him; but he has not been very long with the regiment,is not known personally, and would not, I think, have the sameinfluence with the Portuguese officers and men. Moreover I amafraid that, having been in command so long, I should miss myindependence, if I had only to carry out the orders of others."

  "I can quite understand that," the military secretary said, with asmile. "I can quite realize the fascination of the life of apartisan leader; especially when he has, which Trant and the othershave not, a body of men whom he has trained himself, and upon whomhe can absolutely rely. You can still, of course, wear the uniformof a field officer on the general's staff, and so will have verylittle alteration to make, save by adding the proper insignia ofyour rank. I will write you a line, authorizing you to do so.

  "Now, let us have a turn at your maps. I may tell you in confidencethat, if an opportunity offers, we shall at once convert theblockade of Ciudad into a siege; and hope to carry it before theenemy can march, with sufficient force, to its relief.

  "To do so he would naturally collect all his available forces fromSalamanca, Zamora, and Valladolid, and would probably obtainreinforcements from Madrid and Estremadura; and I want toascertain, as far as possible, the best means of checking theadvance of some of these troops, by the blowing up of bridges, orthe throwing forward of such a force as your regiment to seize anydefile, or other point, that could be held for a day or two, and anenemy's column thus delayed. Even twenty-four hours might be ofimportance."

  "I understand, sir. Of course, the passes between Madrid and Avilamight be retained for some little time, especially if the defendershad a few guns; but they would be liable to be taken in the rear bya force at Avila, where there were, when I went down south, overfive thousand men. As to the troops coming from the north, theywould doubtless march on Salamanca. From that town they would crossthe Huebra and Yeltes so near their sources that no difficultywould be caused by the blowing up of bridges, if any exist; but thepass over the Sierra de Gatta, on the south of Ciudad, might bedefended by a small force, without difficulty."

  The maps were now got out, and the matter gone into minutely. Afteran hour's conversation, Lord Fitzroy said:

  "Thank you, Colonel O'Connor. Some of the information that you havegiven me will assuredly be very useful, if we besiege Ciudad. Fromwhat we hear, there are a good many changes being made in theFrench command. Napoleon seems about to engage in a campaign withRussia, and is likely to draw off a certain portion of the forceshere and, while these changes are being made, it would seem tooffer a good opportunity for us to strike a blow."

  On the last day of December, Terence received the following order:

  "Colonel O'Connor will draw six days' rations from the commissariatand, at daybreak tomorrow, march to the river Aqueda and, on thefollowing day, will ford that river and will post himself along theline of the Yeltes, from its junction with the Huebra to themountains; and will prevent any person or parties crossing fromthis side. It is of the highest importance that no intelligence ofthe movements of the army should be sent, either by the garrison ofCiudad or by the peasantry, to Salamanca. When his provisions areexhausted, he is authorized to hire carts and send in to the armyround Ciudad but, if possible, he should obtain supplies from thecountry near him, and is authorized to purchase provisions, and tosend in accounts and vouchers, for such purchases, to thepaymaster's department."

  "Hurrah, Ryan," he exclaimed on reading the order, "things aregoing to move, at last! This means, of course, that the army isgoing to besiege Ciudad at once; and that we are to prevent theFrench from getting any news of it, until it is too late for themto relieve it. For the last month, guns and ammunition have beenarriving at Almeida; and I thought that this weary time of waitingwas drawing to an end."

  "I am glad, indeed, Terence. I must say that I was afraid that weshould not be moving until the spring. Shall we go in and saygoodbye to our fellows?"

  "Yes, we may as well; but mind, don't say where we are going to,only that we are ordered away. I don't suppose that the regimentswill know anything about it, till within an hour of the time theymarch. There can be no doubt that it is a serious business. Ciudadheld out for weeks against Massena; and with Marmont within a fewdays' march, with an army at least as strong as ours, it will be atough business, indeed, to take it before he can come up to itsrelief; and I can well understand that it is all important that heshall know nothing about the siege, till it is too late for him toarrive in time."

  "We have come in to say goodbye, colonel," Terence said, as he andRyan entered the mess room of the Mayo Fusiliers that evening.

  "And where are you off to, O'Connor?"

  "Well, sir, I don't mind mentioning it in here, but it must go nofurther. The chief, knowing what we are capable of, proposes that Ishall make a rapid march to Madrid, seize the city, and bring KingJoseph back a prisoner."

  There was a roar of laughter.

  "Terence, my boy," Captain O'Grady said, "that is hardly a missionworthy of a fighting man like yourself. I expect that you arehiding something from us, and that the real idea is that you shouldtraverse Spain and France, enter Germany, and seize Boney, andcarry him off with you to England."

  "I dare not tell you whether you are right or not, O'Grady. Thingsof this sort must not even be whispered about. It is a wonderfullygood guess that you have made and, when it is all over, you will beable to take credit for having divined what was up; but for mercy'ssake don't talk about it. Keep as silent as the grave and, ifanyone should ask you what has become of us, pretend that you knownothing about it."

  "But you are going, O'Connor?" the colonel said, when the laughterhad subsided.

  "Yes, colonel. We march tomorrow morning. I daresay you will hearof us before many days are over; and may, perhaps, be able to makeeven a closer guess than O'Grady as to what we are doing. I amheartily glad that we are off. We are now at our full strengthagain. Most of the wounded have rejoined, and I could have filledup the vacancies a dozen times over. The Portuguese know that Ialways manage to get food for my men, somehow; which is more thancan be said for the other Portuguese regiments, though those ofTrant and Pack are better off than Beresford's regulars. Then, too,I think they like fighting, now that they feel that they are amatch for the French, man for man. They get a fair share of it, atany rate. The three months that we have been idle have been useful,as the new recruits know their work as well as the others."

  "Then you don't know how much longer we are going to stop in thisbastely hole?" O'Grady asked.

  "Well, I will tell you this much, O'Grady: I fancy that, beforethis day week, you will all have work to do; and that it is likelyto be hot."

  "That is a comfort, Terence. But, my dear boy, have a little pityon us and don't finish off the business by yourselves. Rememberthat we have come a long way, and that it will be mighty hard forus if you were to clear the French out of Spain, and leave nothingfor us to do but to b
ury their dead and escort their army, asprisoners, to the port."

  "I will bear it in mind, O'Grady; but don't you forget the past.You know how desperately you grumbled at Rolica, because theregiment was not in it; and how you got your wish at Vimiera, andlost an arm in consequence. So even if I do, as you say, push theFrench out of Spain, you will have the consolation of knowing thatyou will be able to go back to Ireland, without leaving any morepieces of you behind."

  "There is something in that, Terence," O'Grady said gravely. "Ithink that when this is over I shall go on half pay, and there mayas well be as much of me left, as possible, to enjoy it. It's anungrateful country I am serving. In spite of all that I have donefor it, and the loss of my arm into the bargain; here am I, still acaptain, though maybe I am near the top of the list. Still, it isbut a captain I am, and here are two gossoons, like yourself andDick Ryan, the one of you marching about a field officer, and theother a captain. It is heart-breaking entirely, and me one of themost zealous officers in the service. But it is never any luck Ihave had, from the day I was born."

  "It will come some day, never fear, O'Grady; and perhaps it may notbe so far off as you fear.

  "Well, colonel, we will just take a glass with you for luck, andthen say good night; for I have a good many things to see after,and must be up very early, so as to get our tents packed and handedover, to draw our rations, eat our breakfast, and be off by seven."

  It was close upon that hour when the regiment marched. It was knownthat there were no French troops west of the Huebra but, afterfording the Aqueda, the force halted until nightfall; and thenmoved forward and reached the Huebra at midnight, lay down to sleepuntil daybreak, and then extended along the bank of the Yeltes, asfar as its source among the mountains; thus cutting the roads fromCiudad to Salamanca and the North. The distance to be watched wassome twenty miles but, as the river was in many places unfordable,it was necessary only to place patrols here; while strong partieswere posted, not only on the main roads, but at all points whereby-roads or peasants' tracks led down to the bank.

  On that day a bridge was thrown across the Aqueda, six miles belowCiudad, for the passage of artillery but, owing to the difficultiesof carriage, it was five days later before the artillery andammunition could be brought over; and this was only done by the aidof 800 carts, which Wellington had caused to be quietly constructedduring the preceding three months.

  On the 8th, the light division and Pack's Portuguese contingentforded the Aqueda three miles above Ciudad and, making a longdetour, took up their position behind a hill called the GreatTeson. They remained quiet during the day and, the garrisonbelieving that they had only arrived to enable the force that hadlong blockaded the town to render the investment more complete, nomeasures of defence were taken; but at night the light divisionfell suddenly on the redoubt of San Francisco, on the Great Teson.

  The assault was completely successful. The garrison was a smallone, and had not been reinforced. A few of them were killed, andthe remainder taken; with a loss, to the assailants, of onlytwenty-four men and officers. A Portuguese regiment, commanded byColonel Elder, then set to work; and these--in spite of a heavyfire, kept up all night by the French forts--completed a parallel,600 yards in length, before day broke.