Portugal 1808
On August 1, 1808 Sir Author Wellesley came ashore at the mouth of the Mondego
River in Portugal. The last of his expeditionary force, including the 82nd
Regiment, finished coming ashore a few days later on the 5th. The 82nd at this
time mustered 929 officers and men[1], and with the 1/29th
Regiment was brigaded under Maj. Gen. M. Nightengall. On 10 August, the army,
14,000 strong, marched south along the coast road. A small French force, under
Gen. Delaborde with 6,000 effectives stood between the British and Peniche, a
port useful to Wellesley if it could be captured. Somewhere nearby to the east,
lurked a larger French army of 9,000 bayonets under Gen. Loison. On Aug. 16,
Delaborde retreated 3 miles south to a small village called Rolica and the 82nd
with the rest of Wellesley's army stopped at Obidos, another town several miles
to the north. Wellesley was determined to fight, whether the two French armies
united or not.
The
Battle of Rolica, August 18, 1808
The town of Rolica lies in the south-west portion of a large horseshoe of hills,
with the northern open end facing Obidos. Within the horseshoe, the land is
uneven and undulates over several ridges and other low outcroppings. On the
morning of the 17th, the British advanced in three columns. Two columns were
sent in wide pincer movements left and right, beyond the edges of the horseshoe,
out of sight of those in the valley, with the objective of taking the French
about Rolica in flank and rear. The 82nd Regiment, as part of Nightingall’s
brigade, formed part of the first line of the center column, under Wellesley
himself, which marched directly down the center of the valley towards Rolica,
where the French army was formed up in front of the town. The Frenchmen who
witnessed the center column wrote that the advancing British army was a splendid
sight: its long lines of scarlet-clad soldiers stopping periodically to dress
themselves before moving on again, the metal of its bayonets glistening in the
sun.
The
82nd entered into the attack in front of Rolica. George Wood, the
only existing diarist for the regiment and then an Ensign seeing combat for the
first time, describes the action thus:
“We
now began our advance over those who had fallen: among them was my brother Sub[altern],
who had been out skirmishing; and we came under what I then thought was a pretty
hot fire, both of field-pieces and musketry… I was soon after knocked down by
a musket-ball striking me on the left groin; and I only attribute escaping a
severe wound to having some papers in the pocket of my pantaloons, which
prevented its penetrating the flesh; but it caused a terrible contusion: I was,
however, in a few minutes able to proceed with the regiment, and soon had the
pleasure of seeing the French flying before us.”
The French army did not stand in front of Rolica long. As the armies touched,
Gen. Delaborde pulled back to a second position at the south end of the valley,
where he occupied the slopes and crest, protected
by cavalry on both flanks. Here there was hard fighting. With the 1/45th on its
left and the 1/29th on its right, the 82nd scaled up a ravine assigned to it by
Wellesley and eventually drove the French from the crest. By this time, Delaborde
accepted defeat and began a skilled retreat under fire, much helped by his
cavalry. The other French army under Loison, just a few miles away by the end of
the day, never did enter the battle. As the fighting drew to a close, Wood
describes a melancholy scene while enjoying his first field of glory:
“I
could not help noticing immediately at my feet a fine youth who was shot through
some vital part. This poor soldier, when I first observed him, was lying on his
back, his head supported by his knapsack: his visage appeared serene and calm,
with a very healthy ruddy colour in his manly cheeks; but every time I looked at
him, I perceived his countenance gradually becoming paler, and his fine blue
eyes losing their luster, which I observed soon became fixed in death, without
his uttering a groan or a struggle.”[3]
Rolica was a good beginning to the British campaign and a small but heartening
victory after many recent failed operations by the British army.
Wellesely’s force had outnumbered the French 3-to-1. The 82nd Regiment
had performed well and gained from the action the battle honour “Rolica” for
its services. Casualties for the regiment in this action were 6 men killed, one
officer* and 18 men wounded.[4] Total British
casualties were 485 compared to 700 for the French.
The
Battle of Vimiero, August 21, 1808
The day after Rolica, the British army was again on the move. While the
French moved off south-east, Wellesley marched south-west down to the coast,
where on August 19 and 20 four thousand reinforcements landed to join the army,
near the mouth of the Maceira River. On the 21st the French army arrived and
attacked the British.
The
Madeira River, before exiting into the sea, meanders in a westerly direction
before passing through a gorge between two ridges, which themselves are oriented
north-east, south-west. The Madeira then turns sharply south, while a small
tributary breaks off going east. In between these two diverging courses lies
Vimiero Hill, a somewhat lower eminence than the ridges. In between Vimiero Hill
and the north-east ridge lay the town of Vimiero itself. The 82nd Regiment spent
the night bivouacked on the south-western ridge, along with most of the British
Brigades. In the following affair, the corps was commanded by Major Eyre, Col.
Smith being on other duties or sick that day. At about 9 am on the 21st, clouds
of dust were seen to rise far in the east, approaching from a position which
would fall on the left flank or the British lines.
The 82nd along with its brigade
and two others, was immediately ordered to the far end of the north-east ridge
and there took up a position near the small town of Ventosa. Two other brigades
and some artillery took position on Vimiero Hill. The French attacked in three
columns. The left column, farthest south of the three, advanced on Vimiero Hill
and was bloodily repulsed after several attacks, the fighting there being
finished by about 11am. The French center column, under Ge. Solignac, advanced
on the position of the 82nd and the other British corps near Ventosa, and
attacked sometime between 9 and 10am. The 82nd occupied the right end of the
main line of defense, with the 1/36th on its left.
The
famous wounded Scotch Piper of the 71st at Vimiero. George Wood mentions him in
his memoirs
After driving in the British
skirmishers with some difficulty, the French columns approached to within 100 yards
of the crest of the ridge. At that moment, the 82nd and the 3 other corps of the
main line advanced and delivered a thunderous volley, wreaking havoc on the
heads of the French columns. As the French recovered and attempted to deploy
into line, the British delivered rolling half-company volleys at an interval of
15 seconds. After 2 minutes of this punishment, the French broke and fled back
downhill. The 82nd now took position between the 1/71st and 1/29th in the main
line atop the ridge, as several other regiments moved forward to pursue the
retreating French. Standing in line to receive the failed French attack had been
George Wood, who horrifically describes the play of the French cannon against
the British lines:
“Another
occurrence happened…to my brother Sub…He was very near-sighted, and the
French artillery playing on us at some distance, the unevenness of the ground
made the balls come hopping similar to those bowled at cricket, which caused the
men to open right and left to let them pass: at one of these openings this
officer stood, and addressing himself to me, asked what was the matter? I
replied, “Do not you see what is coming?” at the same time giving him a hard
pull I was the means of saving him from sudden death…”[5]
Another officer that Woods had been
speaking with was not so lucky however:
“The
poor fellow…received a cannon-ball in his neck, which almost severed his head
from his body."[6]
At this point, a crisis occurred as
the missing French northern column appeared at the top of the ridge on the left
flank of the British position. The 1/71st and 82nd, until then resting in the
grass, moved quickly to change front but were assailed before they could finish
their maneuver. There was hard fighting and the British position may have
broken, if the British right-hand corps, the 1/29th has not moved around behind
and attacked the French column from the west, allowing the 1/71st and 82nd to
form properly into line. A rough new front was therefore established facing this
new French attack and a hot fight developed. George Wood describes this point in
the battle thus:
“…we
came in for our share of the conflict that day, by being opposed to a strong
French regiment, which advanced to within a half pistol-shot of us, when a most
tremendous point blank fire ensued. This not proving effectual, Charge! Was the
word now vociferated from flank to center: but, on seeing us come to this awful
position of destruction in the art of war, they had not courage to withstand our
impetuous movement; for, just as we were in the act of crossing bayonets, to the
right-about they went, in the quickest time."[7]
The
French line broke and fled for the rear, pursued by the 82nd, 1/71st and 1/29th.
Brennier, the French General commanding this last attack, was wounded and
captured by the advancing British. Wood himself was close enough to hear
Brennier remark “Le soldat Francais n’a pas besoin de bas."[8]
when he was found to be wearing no socks. The retreating French however were not
finished and took up barricades in the small town of Ventosa at the end of the
ridge. The British feigned retreat, drawing the French out of the village in a ruse
de guerre, upon which…
“Having
thus drawn them to a sufficient distance from their fastness, we came to our
proper front, and gave them such a reception that they again ran off, and took possession
of their strong hold, whence we soon had the pleasure of seeing the gallant
Rifle-men completely drive them."[9]
The
82nd did not pursue the French farther than Ventosa. Wellesley himself was
present at this action and may have moved the 1/29th into position to save the
day. As a result of the fighting, casualties for the 82nd Regiment on this day
were one officer+ and 7 men killed, 53 men wounded. The
regiment received the battle-honour “Vimiero” for their part in this
successful engagement. The full casualties for both sides were 2000 for the
French and 720 for the British.
The
French were defeated but were not pursued to a complete victory, at the orders
of Lt. General Sir Harry Burrard, who had arrived during the battle, but
politely left Wellesley the honour to finish what he had started. The British
army was ordered back to its bivouac areas and the French were allowed to move
off unmolested. Despite this, the French felt themselves now in serious trouble.
Later in the day, under a flag of truce, the French commander in Portugal,
Junot, initiated negotiations for surrender, the final result of which was their
quitting Portugal entirely, including the handing over of the powerful border
fortresses of Elvas and Almeida. This was a great victory for the British and
this ended the Portuguese Campaign of 1808.
After
the battle of Vimiero, the 82nd marched to Lisbon and took possession of the
citadel, there watching the French army set sail back to France in the very
transports that had brought the regiment to Portugal. After about a month of
garrison duty in Lisbon, the regiment boarded ship to join Sir John Moores army
at Oporto, sometime about the beginning of October.
______________________________________________________________________
G. Wood, The Subaltern Officer, Cambridge: Ken Trotman Ltd., 1986, pg
52.
[3]
Ibid, pg 53.
*
Lt. Richard Read, later died from his
wounds
[4]
C. B. Norman, Battle Honours of the British Army. (London: John Murrey
Press, 1911), pg 159.
[5]
G. Wood, The Subaltern Officer, pg 57.
[6]
Ibid, pg 57.
[7]
Ibid, pg 54-55.
[8]
Ibid, pg 55.
[9]
G. Wood, The Subaltern Officer, pg 56.
+
Lt. Robert Donkin, possibly the officer described by Wood as taking a
cannon-shot
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