I Think I Really Do Have an Ulcer

by Geoffrey Watson

  I suspect that Pom was very aware of what yew wanted and was anticipating what yor orders would have been, had yew been present in person.

  That yew are pleased with the result, shows that he is a very bright young spark, with a military brain of someone twice his years. Did yew hear of his exploit last year, when he fooled a French general into returning to Spain with an entire convoy of vital supplies for Masséna?”

  Wellington appeared mystified. “I do recollect reading that General Gardanne got as far as the Tagus before retreating. I know that your men were involved, but only the facts were reported with very little detail. It does not surprise me that Pom was involved personally and it makes me more determined that he should have some recognition. But what?”

  “What indeed, My Lord? Rewards for being a good soldier are either promotion or a knighthood. Neither is an option that can be used here. The Admiralty is not exactly uncomfortable with our German, Spanish and Portuguese mercenaries, but without doubt, shall be loth to shower them with honours unless they be generals, at least.

  There is a possible avenue that may be explored, without resentment from his own countrymen in our Vespãos.” He waited for Wellington to show interest before continuing. “Yew are aware that he is the son of the younger brother of the Marquess of Pombal and the daughter of a Chinese aristocrat in the Portuguese concession of Macão? Their union is considered valid in China, but cannot be accepted by his family in Portugal.

  As he has done more than most of his Portuguese countrymen to restore the monarchy in his father’s land, do yew not think that Marshal Beresford could urge the Regency Council to appoint him to a title in keeping with his antecedents? After all, Beresford is running their army and the council as well, by all accounts.”

  “By the gods, Welbeloved, that is it. I shall write to Beresford tonight. Pom is more entitled to a Portuguese honour than most of those holding them, who never lifted a finger to keep the French out of their country. Beresford must push for this, as no one can be resentful legitimately if a Portuguese aristocrat claims what should rightfully have been his.”

  His relief was transparent. To be able to do nothing for one of his favourites when it was so richly deserved had been nagging at his sense of justice. Now he could set his undivided attention to letting the Hornets loose to help prepare for the next stage in his campaign.

  “Marshal Soult has not tarried near Badajoz since he heard of its fall. I persuaded a couple of Spanish generals that they and their men could be of greater service to us and to Spain if they took their small armies to threaten Soult’s control of Seville.

  That they have done so is evident in the speed with which he returned to deal with them. He left d’Erlon in the vicinity, but Hill has a couple of divisions and two battalions of Hornets and he is now engaged in pushing d’Erlon south, out of the Extremadura. I shall send Graham with more troops to reinforce our determination to keep Soult occupied with his own concerns.

  Soult is always going to be a threat, but he has so many problems holding down his ‘kingdom’ of Andalucia that I cannot see that he may voluntarily rush to help any of the other marshals. The Spanish bases at Cadiz and Tarifa and our presence at Gibraltar are all going to concentrate his attention wonderfully, without having to do anything energetic at all.

  In the event that he is ordered to come to the assistance of the Army of Portugal and the Army of the North, he has to use the crossings of the Tagus at Almaraz. The next task for Hill is to capture and destroy those crossings, as soon as d’Erlon has been seen off. Once they are unusable, Soult must go east as far as Madrid, shall he wish to help Marmont. It may provide him with another excuse to remain in Andalucia and I am persuaded that he shall make full use of it.

  Once the bridge and the ferry at Almaraz are destroyed, your German and Portuguese battalions may return here and we can then concentrate on dealing with Marmont and our advance on Salamanca.”

  Welbeloved nodded in agreement. “I could never see yew wishing to take the war to Soult. Should yew beat him, it shall free Andalucia, but give time for all the other marshals in Spain to combine against yew.

  If, on the other hand, yew deal with Marmont successfully, yew threaten Madrid and the heart of Spain. Andalucia must then be abandoned and probably Valencia as well, if they are to find enough troops to face yew.”

  He had been considering the implications while he had been talking and moved smoothly onto the potential employment for his Naval Division.

  “Now that my Second and Fourth Battalions shall return here after their anticipated success on the Tagus, it may not have escaped yor notice that the entire division shall be in one place at the same time and actually for the first time.

  It does give an opportunity to consider using them as one of yor regular divisions, although…” His words trailed off as he considered what Wellington was about to attempt. “it is the Army of Portugal that yew consider yor main opponent and something shall have to be attempted to keep Dorsenne and the Army of the North from supporting Marmont when yew attack him.”

  Wellington beamed at him. “It is such a pleasure to present you with a problem, Sir Joshua. I have been considering my next move since before Badajoz fell. Once I decided to ignore Soult and attempt to isolate him in Andalucia, I have been working out how to keep Dorsenne and the Army of the North from sending significant aid to Marmont and interfering with our contest.

  As soon as I told you that I intend to ignore Soult, I have been watching your brain working like a clock. You are one of the few people who has accepted that I can only afford to fight one marshal at a time and that I have to make plans to keep the others occupied. I warrant that you are already reconciled to seeing your battalions moving north as independent units.”

  “I have always been suspicious of flattery, My Lord, though, as it is coming from yew, I must accept it at face value.”

  “Oh tosh, Welbeloved, it is praise, not flattery. The only people I needs must flatter are some of our masters in London and I never mean a word I say in their case.”

  “Then let me guess, My Lord. Yew wish to send my British and Spanish battalions north to stir up trouble with Dorsenne. May I anticipate that when the other two come back from the Tagus, one of them shall join Commodore Cockburn’s squadron for raids against Marshal Suchet on the Valencian coast?”

  “Now, there you are moving ahead of yourself, Sir Joshua.” There was a gleam of amusement in Wellington’s eyes. “I include the Mediterranean in my strategy for Andalucia. There are some incursions planned, but nothing that we need concern ourselves with. Suchet needs all the troops he can get and we may leave to others the responsibility for keeping him occupied.

  The Admiralty has agreed to move Commodore Cockburn and his squadron to the north, under Admiral Popham. Between them, they are to harass the northern coastline and capture shipping and ports. They are to carry large numbers of marines and it is hoped that you can co-operate with the Admiral and your friend to set the northern coast on fire.”

  He grinned at a sudden thought. “Popham is only recently made Rear Admiral, so technically you are senior by a month. Co-operate with him, but do not allow him to dictate to you. Cockburn, on the other hand, is now your junior. I am sure that you shall get on famously.”

  Welbeloved looked startled. “Charles is my special friend and is still senior to me in the Royal Navy. I also am sure that we shall get on famously. He shall devise so many nasty surprises for the French that I may have to keep running to keep up.”

  Wellington was enjoying himself. “Only one of your battalions can be spared for that purpose at this time, Sir Joshua. I have a very real need to stir the Spanish into life again and require you to send one of your battalions to urge General Santocildes into action once more. If he can move onto the offensive with his army at the same time as Popham and Cockburn attack the north coast and the guerrilleros in the area are encouraged to make trouble, it is likely that Dorsenne shall need help from Marmont
rather than the other way.”

  There was a very thoughtful look on Welbeloved’s face. “We have captured many despatches from Marmont to Dorsenne and vice versa. Both of them have been given large tracts of territory to control and Dorsenne in particular is said to have lost thousands of men to feed Boney’s Russian adventure.

  In a solely garrison capacity, he probably has the more difficult task. For one thing, he has to control all of the territory north of the Cantabrian chain of mountains, as far east as the French frontier: much more than Marmont. I suspect that he had to loan Marmont a couple of divisions for his incursion into Portugal. Now that he has slipped back to Salamanca, Dorsenne shall very likely want them back again.

  If we can persuade Santocildes to advance along the route of Sir John Moore’s retreat, that shall be south of the mountains, but within the territory of Dorsenne. Coupled with the campaign by Popham and Cockburn along the northern littoral, those two divisions are unlikely to be available for service against yew.

  I am not sure that I can expect to achieve more than that, but a shortfall of ten thousand men in the Army of Portugal may be the sort of figure that yew have been planning on?”

  “Believe me, Sir Joshua, I shall be delighted with half that. I expect no more, but confide in you to exceed my expectations as always.”

  CHAPTER 21

  The French divisions of Marshal Soult’s deputy, General d’Erlon, had been eased back over the border of the Extremadura, into Andalucia and General ‘Daddy’ Hill was content that they should remain there. Half a division ought to be enough to keep them quiet until Sir Thomas Graham arrived with a couple of divisions to take over the duty.

  He didn’t think that Sir Thomas would have very much to do. D’Erlon had made little effort to resist the forces that had persuaded him to retire, once Marshal Soult had left. Hill wondered whether the rough handling that they had recently received from Vere and his Hornets was what had made them so strangely subdued.

  He shrugged philosophically. He was now almost completely recovered from the debilitating fever that had kept him out of action in the winter. He was most grateful to Lord Wellington for giving him the more restful task of holding a line against potential French moves from the south, while he directed the siege operations himself.

  There was, of course, the suspicion that he had been left down here to complete his recovery in an area where little activity was expected. Then had come the despatch containing his latest orders and he took it as a sign that he was again accepted as fit, when he read that Graham was to stand in while he went north to cut the line of communication between Soult and Marmont.

  He read his orders again. It all seemed simple enough. He should not need more than a division for the task, particularly as Wellington had asked George Vere and his special forces to act as pathfinders and give whatever help they considered appropriate.

  As always, he thought it was a strange way to conduct a military operation, but then, the Naval Division, or Hornets as everyone now called them, were a strange and rather frightening collection of warriors. He had worked with them several times and, having few illusions about the quality of many of his fellow generals, understood the need for Wellington to protect them against falling under the command of any of them.

  For himself, he got on very well with them by telling them what he wanted done and asking them if they could undertake it. They had never yet refused. Always they had achieved better results than he would have believed possible.

  He read again his copy of the despatch from Welbeloved to Lord George Vere and noted that even Lord Wellington did not presume to issue orders as such. Welbeloved, now a major general of marines; he smiled at the thought but considered that the man had done more to earn it than anyone else he could think of; had written most informally.

  My dear George,

  Lord Wellington has asked Sir Rowland Hill to destroy the crossings of the Tagus at Almaraz to deny their use to Soult or Marmont.

  He would like you to offer your help to Sir Rowland and return here with both battalions when the task is completed.

  My information is that there is a pontoon bridge guarded by fortifications and a ferry operating a mile or so upstream of it. No information is available about the defences for the ferry.

  Try not to disturb Foy, who is fifty miles upstream at Talavera!

  Good hunting,

  Joshua Welbeloved.

  Just a simple request, together with basic information about the defences and a warning that General Foy was in the vicinity.

  Vere had called to see him with the minimum of fuss. The Hornets would leave in the morning to explore the area around Almaraz and find out what they could about the defences and the location of the ferry.

  Hill would lead a task force of six thousand men of the Second Division and follow them later in the day. Given the difference in their mobility, he would meet them later when he got there, a mile or so to the south of the bridge. It would give them a couple of days to explore the area and prepare a detailed report about the garrisons and defences.

  * * *

  In fact, Lord George Vere was not so unconcerned as he might have appeared to be. He had crossed the river at Almaraz some three years ago, while acting as an aide to Sir Arthur Wellesley. It was during the army’s dash for safety after the battle of Talavera.

  It was not the same bridge now. The original stone structure had been destroyed by the ancient and infirm General Cuesta to delay the French armies of Marshals Soult and Victor, seeking revenge after the battle.

  The temporary bridge of pontoons had been built half a mile downstream of the old structure and if Vere’s memory served him well, that would be where the river had cut its way between two hills. It would be the most logical place for the French military engineers to place it, so that they could build protective forts on the hills on each side of the river. A crossing of such great strategic value just had to have defences in keeping with its importance.

  It was also where the road turned south toward Trujillo and Badajoz, through the western foothills of the mountains of New Castille. Hardly worth calling mountains at all, compared with the rest of Spain, but with occasional peaks over five thousand feet and passes that could cause problems to a raiding force, if they were defended properly.

  Once through Trujillo and following the road climbing into the hills, Vere found his memory refreshed. In the afternoon he called a halt for the men to take advantage of hilly meadows of spring grass that could be harvested as extra rations for the horses.

  They stopped a few miles south of a pass between high hills, where he remembered seeing ruins of an old Moorish fortification. It was an ideal place for a fort in the old days and such an obvious site for artillery today, giving the guns complete control of over half a mile of the road.

  It was the turn of B Squadron of the Hornissen to provide the advance guard. Otto Fischer detached Lieutenant Ernst Bruch and his troop to go and find out whether the French had taken advantage of a position that was provided by nature to enable a few men to stop an army.

  It was long after sunset when he returned and the news was not good. Bruch left his sergeant to settle his troop down for the night and came straight over to the campfire where Vere, Roffhack and Gonçalves were finishing their evening meal.

  Otto Fischer had anticipated his return and his food was already prepared and carried over to join the commanders so that he could eat with them while he made his report. Fischer and Major Hagen, the Hornissen second-in-command also found an excuse to appear in time to listen.

  Bruch’s english was good by now, but he knew that Roffhack would come to his aid with an instant translation of words that he could only express in german.

  He addressed his report to Vere. “You did tell me that the ruins of an old schloss you had noticed three years ago, Herr Oberst. On the hill above the road through the narrow Pass of Miravete it was to be seen, Ja?”

  He waited for Vere to nod agreement and p
roduced his news almost theatrically. “On the hill over the western side of the pass is now placed a row of three big forts; three festungen we would call them; a hundred yards between each of them. The road to the south is overlooked by them for nearly three miles.

  Guns they have, enough to deny an army the road from a mile before the pass to, probably, the same distance north, although the guns facing north we were not able to see.

  Full skirmishing practice we had to adopt, close enough to get to study the fortifications. I think we were not seen, but any regular infantry slaughtered must be. At night only should they be attacked and even then, each fort is placed to support the other. I regret to say that I could discover no way of capturing them without losing many hundreds of soldiers.”

  Vere looked at Roffhack and grimaced while replying to Bruch. “An excellent report, Ernst, even if you have confirmed my worst fears. From what I recall and what you describe, I cannot recommend to Sir Rowland Hill that he bring his division by this route. Tomorrow we shall explore to east and west along these hills. There has to be a way through, please God, within ten miles, even if we cannot take the horses.

  Ernst can show me what he has described so effectively and perhaps you may take your men east, Günther, while Fernando takes the Vespãos west. Leave the mortars here, Fernando, in case I am inspired to think of some way of employing them.”

  * * *

  Two days later, Vere himself was waiting for General Hill, having intercepted his vanguard just out of sight of the three forts.

  Sir Rowland immediately halted the entire division and invited Vere, Hagen and Gonçalves to partake of a light luncheon while they told him what they had discovered.

  It was a good decision, as Vere was able to use a couple of camp tables as a plateau on which to build a rough chart of the land to their north. He used a length of rope to show the course of the Tagus from east to west. Salt and mustard pots clustered together showed the town of Almaraz slightly to the north of it and piles of sandy soil were used to show the chain of small mountains stretching along the river, but at a distance of more than two miles to the south of it.