 CHAPTER IV. UNDER CANVAS In a short time, O'Grady returned, followed by Hulan, carrying a small barrel of wine. It is good, I hope, the major said as the barrel was set down in one corner of the room. I think that is the best that they have. One of the girls went down with Tim into the cellar and pointed out to him. I told him to ask it for Bueno Vino. I don't know whether it was right or wrong, but I think she understood. How much does it hold, O'Grady? I cannot say, five or six gallons I should think anyhow. I paid three dollars for it. You must put down all the outgoings, O'Grady, and we will square up when we leave here. I will put them down, Major. How long do you think we shall stop here? That is more than anyone can say. We have to wait for Anne Struther and Spencer. It may be three or four days. It may be a fortnight. Dick Ryan assisted Terence in the cooking while Tim went down to get something to drink out of. He returned with three mugs and two horns. Diva the thing else is there that can be found here, Anna, he said as he placed them on the table. Every Martial sing is in use. That will do to begin with, the major said. We will get our own things up this afternoon. We must manage as best we can for this meal. It is better than I expected by a long way. Tim now relieved the two young officers at the gridiron and sitting down at benches along the table. The meal was eaten with much laughter and fun. After all, there is nothing like getting things straight from the gridiron, the major said. O'Grady had got the bung out of the barrel and filled the five drinking vessels and the wine was pronounced to be very fair. One by one other officers dropped in and Hulan was for an hour kept busy. The major, who spoke a little Spanish, went down and returned with a dozen bottles of spirits, two or three of which were open and the contents consumed. It is poor stuff by the side of whiskey, O'Grady said as he swallowed a stiff glass of it. Still, I will not be denying it is warm and uncomfortable. If we could get enough of it, we can hold on till we get home again. Here is success to the campaign. I will travel you for that bottle, Elder Skull. Here it is. I shall stick to wine. I don't care for that fiery stuff. Here is success to the campaign, and may we meet the French before long. We are pretty sure to do that, he went on as he set his horn down on the table. If Junot knows his business, he won't lose a day before marching against us directly he hears of our landing. He will know well enough that unless he crushes us at once, he will have all Portugal up in arms. Here, Terrence, you can have this horn. The difficulty of drinking had to some extent been solved by Hulan, who had gone downstairs and returned with a tin pot capable of holding a bowl of cupola quartz. This he had cleaned by rubbing it with sand and water, and it went round as a loving cup among those unprovided with mugs or horns. When all had finished, the two soldier-servants, who had now arrived with the rations, were left in charge. Old Driscoll's servant had brought in a dozen fowls and a large basket full of eggs, and, ordering supper to be ready at eight, the officers returned to their camp. They found that their comrades had done fairly well. Several rooms had been attained in the village, and hams, black sausages, and other provisions purchased and cooked in a rough way on a grid iron. I'm afraid that it's too good to last, the colonel said, as the officers gathered around him, as the bugle sounded for parade. A week of this and the last crap of provisions here will have been eaten, and we shall have nothing but our rations to fall back upon. There is one thing, however, that is not likely to give out, that is wine. They grow it about here, and I hear that the commissariat had bought up large quantities without difficulty to serve out to the troops. The regiment had a long afternoon's drill to get them out of the slackness occasion by their enforced idleness on the voyage. When it was over, they were formed up, and the colonel addressed a few words to the men. Men of the Mayo Regiment, he said, I trust that now we are fairly embarked upon the campaign, you will so behave as to do credit to yourselves and to Ireland. Perhaps some of you think that now that you are on campaign, you can do just as you like. Those who think so are wrong. It is just the other way. When you were at home, I did not think it necessary that I should be severe with you, and as long as a man was able, when he came into barracks, to walk to his quarters, I did not trouble about him. But it is different here. Any breach of duty will be most severely punished, and any man who is found drunk will be flogged. Any man plundering will be punished, and any man who is found drunk will be flogged. Or ill-treating the people of this country will be handed over to the provost marshal, and unless I am mistaken, he is likely to be shot. Sir Arthur Wellesley is not the man to stand nonsense. There must be no straggling. You must keep within the bounds of the camps, and no one must go into the village without a permit from the captain of his company. As to your fighting? Well, I have no fear of that. We shall say nothing about it. Before the enemy, I know you will all do your duty. And it is just as necessary that you should do your duty, and be a credit to your regiment at other times. There are black guards in the regiment, as there are in every other. But I tell them that a sharp eye will be kept upon them, and that no mercy will be shown upon them if they misbehave, while they are in Portugal. That is all I have to say to you. That was the sort of thing, I think, major. He said, as after the men were dismissed, he walked back to his tent with Major Harrison. Just the sort of thing, Colonel, the others had smiling, and said in the sort of way that they will understand. I am afraid that we shall have trouble with some of them. Wine and spirits are cheap, and it will be very difficult to keep them from it altogether. Still, if we make an example of the first fellow who was caught drunk, it will be a useful lesson to the whole. A few floggings at the start may have some hanging afterwards. I know you are averse to flogging. There have only been four men flogged in the last six months. But this is a case where punishment must be dealt out sharply if discipline is to be maintained, and the credit of the regiment be kept up. Oh, great, and one of the other officers called upon the priest to thank him for his good offices in obtaining the room for them. I am afraid from what my man tells me, that he did not state the case quite fairly to you. Our regiment was, as he said, raised in Ireland, and the greater portion of the men are naturally of your faith, father. But we really have no claim to your services, whatever. The priest smiled. I am nevertheless glad to have been of service to you, gentlemen, he said courteously. At least you are Irishmen, and I have many good friends, countrymen of yours, and you have still another claim upon us all. For are you not here to aid us to shake off this French domination? I hope that you are comfortable, but judging from what I see and hear when passing, I fear that your lodging is a somewhat noisy one. You may say that, father, and we will do our full share towards making it so. But having the room makes all the difference to us. They have no time to cook downstairs, and it is done by our own servants, but it is handy to have the wine and other things within call. And if we always do as well, we shall have good cause to feel mighty contented. For, barring that we are rather crowded, we are just as well off here as we were at home, saving only in the quality of the spirits. Now, father, we cannot ask you up there, seeing that it is your own village. But if you would like to take a walk through the camps, we should be glad to show you what there is to be seen, and give you a little of the real creta. It is not much of it that we have been able to bring ashore, for the general is mighty stiff in the matter of baggage. But I doubt whether there is one of us who did not manage to smuggle a bottle or two of the real stuff hidden in his kit. The priest accepted the invitation and was taken through the brigade camp, staying some time in that of the mayows, and astonished some of the soldiers by chanting to them in English, and with a brogue almost as strong as their own. He then spent half an hour in O'Grady's tent, and sampled the whiskey, which he pronounced excellent, and of which his entertainer insisted upon his taking a bottle away with him. Three days later, it was known in camp that two French divisions have been sent a motion against them, the one for a Brantes to the east under Leoson, the other from the south under Le Borde. Junot himself remained at Lisbon. The rising in the south and the news of the British landing caused an intense feeling among the population, and the French general feared that at any moment an insurrection might break out. The natural point of junction of these two columns would be at Liera. That night orders were issued for the tents of the division, to which the Mayo regiment belonged to be struck before daylight, and the troops were to be under arms and ready to march at six o'clock. Good news, O'Grady said as he entered the mess room at four o'clock in the afternoon, after having learned from the colonel the orders for the next morning. Art of regained is to form the advanced God, and we are to march at six to Mado. A general exclamation of pleasure broke from the five or six officers present. We shall have the first of the fun, boys. Hand me that horn, tenants. Here is to Sir Arthur. Good luck to him, and bad sess to the French. The toast was drunk with some laughter. Now we are going to campaign in earnest, he went on. No more wines filling, no more devil ham. No more spirits, O'Grady, one of the group cut in, and as for the wine, you have drunk your share, besides twice your share of the spirits. Within there there is nothing to do, Demon Ham. I could take me liquor in moderation. I have never remarked that, O'Grady, one of the others put in. In great moderation, O'Grady said gravely, but he was again interrupted by a shout of laughter. Ye had to be held home last night, O'Grady, and it took Hulan a quarter of an hour to wake you this morning. I heard him say, Namaste, dear. The bill will sound in a minute or two. It's wake you must, or there will be a dival of botheration over it. I looked in, and there you were. Hulan was standing by the side of you shaking his head gravely, as if it was a hopeless job that he had in hand, and if I had not emptied a water bottle over you, you would never have been on parade in time. Oh, it was you, was it, O'Grady said wrathfully. Hulan swore by all the saints that he had not seen who it was. Never mind me, boy, I will be even with you yet. The O'Grady is not to be waked in that fashion. Mind, I owe you one, though I'm not saying that I should have been on parade in time if you had not done it. I only just saved my bacon. And hardly that, Terence left, for the adjutant was down upon you pretty sharply. Your coatie was all buttoned up wrong, your hair had not been brushed, and stuck up always below your shackle. Your sword belt was all awry, and you looked worse than you did when I brought you home. Well, it is a paw-heart that never enjoys its tenets. We must make a night of it, boys. If the tenets are to be struck before daylight, it will be mighty little use in your turning in. You won't catch me sitting up all night, Terence said, with perhaps a twenty-mile march in the morning, and maybe a fight at the end of it. If it is to Lierra where we're going, it will be nearer thirty miles and twenty, and even you, seasoned vessel as you are, will find it a long walk after being up all night, and having had pretty hard work today. I cannot hold with the general there, O'Grady said gravely. He has been caping us all at it from daybreak to night, every day since we landed, and marching the men's feet off. It is all very well to march when we have got to march, but to keep us tramping fifteen or twenty miles a day when there's no occasion for it is out of all reason. We shall march all the better for it tomorrow, O'Grady. It has been hard work certainly, but not harder than it was marching down to Cork, and we should have a good many stragglers tomorrow if it had not been for the last week's work. We have got half a dozen foot sore men in my company alone, and you would have fifty tomorrow night if the men had not had all this marching to get them fit. It is all very well for you tenants who have been tramping all over the hills around Athlons since you were a goosun, but I am sure that if I had not had that day off duty when I showed the priests around the camp, I should have been killed. Here is the general order of the day, the edgedon said as he came in with Captain O'Connor. The general says that now the army is about to take the field. He shall expect the strictest discipline to be maintained, and that all stragglers on the ranks will at once be handed over to the provost marshal, and all offenses against the peasantry or their property will be severely punished. Then there are two or three orders that do not concern us particularly, and then there is one that concerns you, Terrence. The general has received a report from Colonel Corcoran of the Mayo Fusiliers, stating that the transport carrying the left wing of the regiment was attacked by two French privateers and would have been compelled to surrender. She being particularly unarmed had it not been for the coolness and quick wit of Ensign Terrence O'Connor, having read the report the general commanding fully concurs, and expresses his high satisfaction at the conduct of Ensign O'Connor which undoubtedly saved from capture the wing of the regiment. There, Terrence, that is the feather in your cap. Sir Arthur is not given the praise unduly, and it is seldom that an Ensign gets into general orders. It will do you good someday, perhaps when you least expect it. I am heartily pleased, my lad, Captain O'Connor said as he laid his hand upon Terrence's shoulder. I am proud of you. I have never seen my own name in general orders, but I am heartily glad to see yours. Be dad, when I think that a couple months ago you were running wild and getting into all sorts of mischief. It seems hard to believe that you should not only be one of us, but have got your name into general orders. And all for nothing, father, Terrence said. I call it a beastly shame that just because I thought of using that lager I should be cracked up more than the others. It was not only that, though Terrence, those guns that crippled the lager, could not have been fired if you had not thought of putting the rope round them, and that French frigate would never have left you alone had you not suggested to the major how to throw dust into their eyes. No, my lad, you thoroughly deserve the credit that you have got, and I am sure that there is not a man in the regiment who would not say the same. Gentlemen, Captain O'Grady said solemnly, we will drink to the health of Ensign Terrence O'Connor, more power to his elbow, and the toast was duly honored. It is mighty good of me to propose it, O'Grady went on after Terrence had said a few words of thanks, because I have a strong idea that in another two or three minutes I should have made just the same suggestion that you did, my lad. I knew at the time that there was just a plan I wanted to propose, but some of the words came to my lips. I was just brimful with it when you came up and took the words out of my mouth. If I had spoken first, it is a brevin' majority I had got, sure enough. You must be quicker next time, O'Grady, the adjutant said when the laughter had decided. As you say, you have missed a good thing by your slowness. I'm afraid your brain was still a little muddled by your indulgence the night before. Just to the contrary, my boy, I feel that if I had taken just one glass more of the crater, my brain would have been clearer and I should have been to the fore. But I bear you no malice, Terrence. Maybe the ideas would not have managed to straighten themselves out until after we have had to haul down the flag, and then it would have been too late to have been any good. It has happened to me more than once before that I have just thought of a good thing when it was too late. It has occurred to most of us, O'Grady, Captain O'Connor said laughing. Terrence, you see, doesn't care for whiskey, and perhaps that has had something to do with his ideas coming faster than ours. Well, so we are off tomorrow, though, of course, no one knows which way we are going to march. It must be either to Lyra or along the coast road. It is a good thing Spencer has come up in time, for there is no saying how strong the French may be. Though I fancy they are also scattered about, that after leaving a garrison to keep Lisbon in order and holding other points, Junot will hardly be able, at such short notice, to gather a force much superior to ours. But from what I hear, there are many strong positions between this and Lisbon, and if he sticks himself up on the top of a hill, we shall have all our work to turn him off again. I fancy it will be to Lyria, the adjutant said. The Portuguese report that one French division is at Candieros and another coming from Abrantes, and Sir Arthur is likely to endeavor to prevent them from uniting. That evening there was a grand feast at the mess room. The Colonel had been specially invited, and every effort was made to do honor to the occasion. Tim Houlin had been very successful in a foraging expedition that had brought in a goose and four ducks, and had persuaded the landlord's nieces to let him and the cook have sole possession of the kitchen. The banquet was a great success, but the majority of those present did not sit very long afterwards. The Colonel set the example of rising early. I should advise you gentlemen to turn in soon, he said. I do not say where we are to march tomorrow, but I can tell you at least that the march is a very long one, and that it were best to get as much sleep as possible, for I can assure you that it will be no child's play, and I think that it is quite probable we shall smell powder before the day is over. Accordingly, all the young officers and several of the seniors left with him, but O'Grady and several of the hard drinkers kept it up until midnight. Observing, however, more moderation than usual in their rotations. There was none of the grumbling common when men are turned out of their beds before dawn. All were high spirits that the time for action had arrived. The men were as eager to meet the enemy as were their officers, and the tents were all down and placed in the wagons before daylight. The regimental cooks had already been at work, and the officers went round and saw that all of them had breakfast before they fell in. At six o'clock, the whole were under arms, and in their place as the central regiment in the brigade, they tramped on without a halt until eleven. Then the bugle sounded, and they fell out for half an hour. The men made a meal from bread and the meat that had been cooked the night before. Each man carrying three days rations in his haversack. There was another halt and a longer one, at two o'clock, when the brigade rested for an hour in the shade of a grove. It is mighty pleasant to rest, O'Grady said as the officers threw themselves down on the grass. But it is the starting that bates one. I feel that my feet have swung so that every step I take, I expect my boots to burst with an explosion. Face, if it comes to fighting, I shall take them off all together and swing them at my belt. How can I run after the French when I'm a cripple? You better take your boots off now, O'Grady, one of the others suggested. It is not easy to get them off. And how should I get them all again? No, they have got there, and there they have got to stop. Bad says to them. I told Hulun to rub grease into them for an hour last night, but the raska was drunk as an owl. There was no more talking, for every man felt that an hour's sleep would do wonders for him. Soon absolute quiet rained in the grove, and continued until the bugle again sounded them to their feet. All knew now that it was Lyera that they were making for, and that another ten miles still remained to be accomplished. A small body of cavalry which accompanied them now perched on ahead, and when half the distance had been traversed, a trooper brought back the news that the enemy had not yet reached the town. It was just six o'clock when the brigade marched in, amid the cheers and wild excitement of the inhabitants. The wagons were not yet up, and the troops were quartered in the town, tired, and many of them foot-sore, but proud of the march they had accomplished, and that it had enabled them to forestall the French. Le Bour, indeed, arrived the same night at Batalha, eight miles distant, but on receiving the news in the morning that the British had already occupied Lyera, he advanced no farther. His position was an exceedingly difficult one. His orders were to cover the march of Loison from Abrantes, and form a junction with that general. But to do so now would be to leave open the road through Alcobaca and Obedos to the commanding position at Torres Vedras. Batalha offered no position that he could hope to defend until the arrival of Loison, therefore sending word to that general to move from Torres Novas as soon as he reached that town to Santorim and then to march to join him at Rolisa. He fell back to Alcobaca and then to Obedos, a town with a moorish castle, built on a gentle eminence in the middle of a valley. Leaving a detachment there, he retired to Rolisa, six miles to the south of it. At this point several roads met, and he at once covered all the approaches to Torres Vedras, and the important port at Peniche, and could be joined by Loison marching down from Santorim. The advance brigade of the British force remained in quiet position of Lyria during the next day, and on the following, the 11th of August, the main body of the army arrived, having taken two days in the march. The Portuguese force also came in under Friye, that general and once took position of the magazines there, and although he had promised the English general that their content should be entirely devoted to the maintenance of the English army, he divided them among his own force. Disgusted as the British commander was at his bare face dishonesty, he was not in a position to quarrel with the Portuguese. It was essential to him that they should accompany him, not for the sake of the assistance that they would give, for he knew that none was to be expected from them, but from a political point of view. It was most important that the people at large should feel that their own troops were acting with the British, and that no feelings of jealousy or suspicion of the latter should arise. Friye was acting under the orders of the Bishop and Junta of Oporto, whose great object was to keep the Portuguese army together and not to risk a defeat, as they desired to keep this body intact in order that, if the British were defeated, they should be able to make favourable terms for themselves. Consequently, even after appropriating the whole of the stores and provisions found at Friye, continued to make exorbitant demands and to offer a vigorous opposition to any further advance. So far did he carry this that the British general, finding that in no other way could he get the Portuguese to advance with him, proposed that they should follow behind him and wait the result of the battle, to which Friye at last consented. The Portuguese, in fact, had no belief whatever that the British troops would be able to withstand the onslaught to the French, whom they regarded as invincible. Colonel Trant, however, one of our military agents, succeeded in inducing Friye to place 1,400 infantry and 250 cavalry under the command of Sir Arthur. The addition of the cavalry was a very useful one, for the British had with them only 180 mountain men. The country was entirely new to them, scarcely an officer could speak the language, and there was no means, therefore, of obtaining information as to the movements of the enemy. Moving forward through Batalha, and regaining the coast road at Alcobaca, the British forces arrived at Caldas on the fifteenth, and on the same day Junot quitted Lisbon with a force of 2,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and ten pieces of artillery, leaving 7,000 to garrison the forts and keep down the population of the city. His force was conveyed to Ville Franca by water, and the general then pushed forward to Santarrem, where he found Loison, and took command of his division. The British advance guard, after arriving at Caldas, pushed forward, drove the French pickets out of Brillo, and then from Obidos. Here, however, a slight reverse took place. Some companies of the 95th and 60th rifles pressed forward three miles further in pursuit, when they were suddenly intact and flanked by a greatly superior force. And had it not been that General Spencer, whose division was but a short distance behind, pressed forward to their assistance, they were suffered heavily. As it was, they escaped with the loss of two officers and twenty-seven men killed and wounded. Their rashness, however, led to the discovery that the board's forces had taken up a strong position in front of the village of Rolisa, and that he apparently intended to give battle there. The next day was spent in reconordering the French position. It was a very strong one. Rolisa stood on a table land rising in a valley, affording a view of the road as far as Obido. The various points of defense there, and on the flank, were held by strong parties of the enemy. A mile in the rear was a steep and lofty ridge that offered a strong second line of defense. By the side of this ridge, the road passed through a deep defile, and then mounted over a pass through the range of hills extending from the sea to the Tagus, and occupying the intermediate ground until close to Lisbon. LeBord's position was an embarrassing one. If he retired upon Taurus Vedras, his line of communication with Loison would be lost, and if he moved to meet Loison, he would leave open the direct road to Lisbon. While if he remained at Rolisa, he had to encounter a force almost three times his own strength. Trusting in the advantages of his position, and confident in the valor of his troops, he chose the last alternative. Very anxiously during the day, the British officers watched the French line of defense, fearful lest the enemy would again retreat. By sunset, they came to the conclusion that LeBord intended to stay where he was and to meet them. The French indeed had been so accustomed to beat the Spanish and Portuguese, that they had now woke up to the fact that they had troops of a very different material facing them. We ought to have easy work, Major Harrison said as the officers gathered around the fire that had been built in front of the Colonel's tent. The people here all declare that LeBord has not above 5,000 troops with him, while counting transports of keys, we have nearly 14,000. There would be no credit in thrashing him with such odds as that, Dick Ryan grumbled. I suppose, Ryan, Major Harrison said, if you had been in Sir Arthur's place, you would have preferred remaining at Lyria until Junot could have gathered all his forces and obtained a reinforcement of some 50,000 or so from Spain. Then you would have issued a general order saying that as the enemy had now 100,000 troops ready, the army would advance and smite them. Not so bad as that, Major, the young NZ said, colouring as there was a general laugh from the rest, but there does not seem much satisfaction in thrashing an enemy when there are three to one against him. That is just the archer war, Ryan. Of course, it is glorious to defeat a greatly superior army and to lose half your own in doing so. That may be heroic, but it is not modern war. The object of a general is, if possible, to defeat an enemy in detail and so to maneuver that he is always superior in strength to the force that is immediately in front of him and so to ensure victory after victory until the enemy are destroyed. That is what the general is doing by his skillful maneuvering. He is preventing Junot from massing the whole of the army of Portugal against us. Tomorrow we shall defeat Le Borde and doubtless a day or two later we shall fight Loison. Then I suppose we shall advance against Lisbon. Junot will collect his beaten troops and his garrison. There will be another battle and then we shall capture Lisbon and the French will have to evacuate Portugal. Whereas if all the French were at Rolisa, they would probably smash us into a crooked hat in spite of any valor we might show. And as we have no cavalry to cover retreat, as the miserable horses can scarcely drag the few guns that we have got and the carriages are so rickety that the artillery officers are afraid that as soon as they fire them they will shake the pieces. It is not probable that a single man will regain their ships. Please say no more Major. I see I was a fool. Still, Captain O'Connor said, you must own Major, that one does like to win against odds. Quite so, O'Connor. Individuals who may survive such a battle no doubt would be glad that it was a superior force that they had beaten. But then you see, battles are not fought for the satisfaction of individuals. Moreover, you must remember that the proportion of losses much heavier when the numbers are pretty equally matched. For in that case, they must meet to a certain extent face to face. Skill on the part of the general may do a great deal, but in the end it must come to sheer hard fighting. Now I expect that tomorrow, although there may be hard fighting, it is not upon that Sir Arthur will principally rely for turning the French out of those strong positions. He will no doubt advance directly against them with perhaps half his force, but the rest will move along the top of the heights, and so threaten to cut the French line of retreat altogether. Le Board is, they say, a good general, and therefore will wait until he is caught in a trap, but will fall back as soon as he sees that the line of retreat is seriously menace. I fancy too that he must expect Loison of some time tomorrow, or he would hardly make a stand, and if Loison does come up, Raya's wish will be gratified, and we shall be having the odds against us. Then you must remember that our army is a very raw one. A large proportion of it is newly raised, and though there may be a few men here who fought in Egypt, the great bulk have never seen the shot fired in earnest, while on the other hand the French have been fighting all over in Europe. They are accustomed to victory and are confident in their own valor and discipline. Our officers are as raw as our men, and we must expect that all sorts of blunders will be made at first. I can tell you that I am very well satisfied that our first battle is going to be fought with the odds greatly on our side. In six months I shall feel pretty confident even if the French have the same odds on their side. The Major gave it you rather hutly dick, Terrence said to his friend as they sauntered off together from the group. I am glad that you spoke first, for I had it on the tip of my tongue to say just what you did, and I expect that a good many others felt the same. Yes, I put my foot in it badly, Terrence. I have no doubt that the Major was right anyhow. I have nothing to say against it, but for all that I wish that either we were not so strong or that they were stronger. What credit is there I should like to know in thrashing them when we are three to one? Anyhow, I hope that we shall share in the scrimmage. We shall get an idea when the orders are published tonight, and shall see where Fane's Brigade is to be put. 9. At nine o'clock in the evening it became known that the general plan of attack predicted by Major Harrison was to be carried out. Some five thousand men under General Ferguson were to ascend the hills on the left of the valley, while Trent, with a thousand Portuguese infantry and some Portuguese horse, were to move on the hills on the right. The center, nine thousand strong, and commanded by Sir Arthur himself, were to march straight up the valley. Early in the morning the British troops marched out from Obedos. Ferguson's command at once turned to the left and ascended the hills while Trent's moved to the west. After proceeding a short distance, Fane's Brigade moved off from the road and marched along the valley, equal distance from the main body and from Ferguson, forming a connecting link between them. And on reaching the village of Saint-Momed, three-quarters of a mile from the French position, Hills Brigade turned off to the right. From their elevated position the French opened fire with their artillery, and this was answered by the twelve guns in the valley, and from Ferguson six guns on the heights. Fane's Brigade extended to his left was the first in action, and drove back the French scrimmages and connected Ferguson with the center. They then turned to attack the right of the French position, while Ferguson, seeing no signs of Loison's force, descended from the high ground to the rear of Fane, while the Portuguese pressed forward at the foot of the hills on the other side of the valley and threatened the enemies left flank. Seeing that his position was absolutely untenable, Le Bois did not wait the assault, but fell back covered by his cavalry, to the far stronger position in his rear. A momentary pause ensued before the British continued their advance. The new position of the French was of great natural strength, and could be approached only by narrow paths winding up through steep ravines on its face. Ferguson and Fane received orders to keep to the left, and so turned the enemies right. Transsimile was to push forward and threaten his left flank, while hill and nightingale advanced against the front. The battle commenced by a storm of skirmishers from these brigades running forward. They soon reached the foot of the precipitous hill and plunged into the passes. Neither the fire of the enemy nor the difficulties of the ascent checked them. Spreading right and left from the paths, they made their way up and taken advantage of the shelter afforded by great boulders, broken masses of rock, and the stumps of trees. Climbed up wherever they could find a foothold. The supporting columns experienced much greater difficulty. The paths were too narrow and the ground too broken for them to retain their formation, and they made their way forward as best they could in necessary disorder. The dinner battle was prodigious, for the rattle of musketry was echoed and re-echoed from the rocks. The progress of the skirmishers could only be noted by the light smoke rising through the foliage and by the shouts of the soldiers which were echoed by the still louder ones of the French gathered strongly on the hill above them. As the British made their way up, Le Borde, who was still anxiously looking for the expected coming of Loison, withdrew a portion of his troops from the left and strengthened his right in order to hold on as long as possible to the side from which aid was expected. The ardour of the bridge to get to close quarters favored this movement. It had been intended that the 9th and 29th regiments should take the right hand-path where the track they were following of the pass forked, and so join trans-Portuguese at the top of the hill and fall upon the French left. The left hand-path, however, was the one that would take them direct to the enemy, and the 29th, which was leading, took this and the 9th followed them. So rapidly did they press up the hill that they arrived at the crest before Ferguson and Fane on the left and Trant on the right had got far enough to manage the line of retreat, and so shake the enemy's position. The consequence was that as the right wing of the 29th arrived at the top of the path it was met by a very heavy fire before it could form and some companies of a French regiment who had been cut off from the main body by its sudden appearance charged through the disordered troops and carried with them a major and fifty or sixty other prisoners. The rest of the wing thus exposed to the full fire of the French fell back over the crest and there rallied on the left wing and being joined by the 9th pushed forward again and obtained a footing on the plateau. Le Borde in vain endeavored the hurl them back again, they maintained their footing but suffered heavily, both the colonels being killed with many officers and men. But the 5th regiment were now up and at other points the bridge were gathering thickly at the edge of the plateau. Ferguson and Trant were pushing on fast past the French flanks and Le Borde, seeing that further resistance would lead to great disaster, gave the order to retire to a third position still farther in the rear. The movement was conducted in splendid order, the French steadily fell back by alternative masses, their guns thundering on their flanks while their coverly covered the rear by repeated charges. Gaining the third position, Le Borde held it for a time and so enabled isolated bodies of his force to join him. Then, finding himself unable to resist the impetuosity of the British attack, he retired, still disputing every foot of ground and took to the narrow pass of Runa. He then marched all night to the strong position of Montechique, thereby securing his junction with Loisens, but leaving the road to Torres-Vedras, open to the British. The loss of the French in this fight was 600 killed and wounded and three guns. Le Borde himself was among the wounded. The British lost nearly 500 killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. The number of the combatants actually engaged on either side was about 4,000, and the loss of stain showed the ausonancy of the fighting. Sir Arthur believed that the French had, as they retreated, been joined by Loisens and therefore prepared to march at once to the coastline to seize the heights of Torres-Vedras before the French could throw themselves in his way. Great was the disappointment among the officers and men of the Mayo Fusiliers that they had taken no part whatever in the actual fighting, beyond driving in the French skirmishers at the beginning of the operations. Divella man killed or wounded, O' Grady remarked mournfully as the regiment halted at the conclusion of the fight. Faith, it is too bad entirely. There we are left out in the cold, as gas a shot has been fired. There are plenty others in the same case, Captain O'Driscoll said. None of our three brigades on the left have had anything to do with the matter, as far as fighting went. I don't think more than 4,000 of our troops were in action. But you see, if it had not been for our advance, Hill and Nightingale might not have succeeded in driving Le Borde off the Hill. There is no doubt that the French fought well, but it's our advance that forced him to retire, not the troops in front of him. So that, even if we had not had any killed or wounded, O' Grady, we have at least had the satisfaction of having contributed to the victory. I'll bother your tactics. We have come here to fight, and no fighting have we had at all at all. When we marched out this morning, it looked as if we were going to have our share in the division, and we have been badly chanted out of it. Well, O' Grady, you should not grumble, Terence said, for we have had some fighting on the way out, which is more than any of the other troops had. That was a mere skirmish, Terence. First of all, we were shot at, and could not shoot back again. And then we shot at the enemy, and they could not shoot back at us. And as for the boarding affair, faith, it did not last a minute. The others have had two hours of steady fighting, clambering up the hill and banging away at the enemy, and shouting and cheering, and all sorts of fun. And there were we, tramping along among those baseless stones and rocks, and no one as much as took the trouble to fire a shot at us. Well, if we had been there, O' Grady, we should have lost about 120 men and officers, if we had suffered in the same proportion as the others, and we should now be mourning their loss, perhaps you among them. We might be saying, there is O' Grady gone. He was a beggar to talk, but he meant well. Faith, the drink bill, the regiment will fall off. Well, it might have been so, O' Grady said in a more contented voice. And if I had been killed going at the hill, without even as much as catching a glimpse at the Frenchies, I would never have forgiven them, never. There was a roar laughter at the bowl. What is it have I said? he asked in surprise. Nothing, O' Grady, but it would be an awful thing for the French to know that after your death you would have gone on hating them forever. Did I say that? But you know my meaning, and as long as you know that, what does it matter which way I put it? Well, now I suppose Sir Arthur's going to take us tramping along again. Ah, it is a weary thing being a soldier. While you were saying yesterday, O' Grady, that your feet were getting all right, Terence said. All right in a manner, Terence, and it is a bad habit that you have got of picking up your superior officer's words and throwing them into his teeth. You will come to a bad end if you don't break yourself of it. And the worst of it is you are corrupting the other lads, and the young officers are losing all respect for their seniors. I'm surprised, Major, that you and the Colonel don't take the matter in hand before the discipline of the regiment is destroyed entirely. You draw upon it yourself, O' Grady. It is good for us all to have a laugh sometimes. We should all have missed you starly had you gone down on that hill over there, as many a good fellow has done. I hear that both the Ninth and the 29th have lost their colonels. The Lord Pizavis from such a misfortune, Major, it would give us a step all through the regiment. But then you see—and he stopped. You mean I should be Colonel, O' Grady, the Major said with a laugh, and you know I should not take things as quietly as he does. Well, you see, there are consolations all round. The firing had ceased at four o'clock, and until late that night a large portion of the force were occupied in searching the ground that had been traversed, burying the dead, and carrying the wounded of both nationalities down into the hospital that had been established at Rolisa. Sir Arthur determined to march a daybreak, so as to secure the passage through Torres Viedres, but in the evening a messenger arrived with the news that Ann Struther and Acklin's division, with a large fleet of storesheds, were off the coast. The dangerous nature of the coast, and the certainty that, should a gale spring up, a large proportion of the ships would be wrecked, rendered it absolutely necessary to secure the disembarkation of the troops at once. The next morning, therefore, he only marched 10 miles to Lourinha, and then advanced to Vimera, eight miles farther, where he covered the disembarkation of the troops. The next day, Ann Struther's brigade were with difficulty, and some loss, landed on an open sandy beach, and on the night of the twentieth, Acklin's brigade were disembarked at Massira Bay. The reinforcements were most opportune, for already the British had proved that Junot was preparing a heavy blow. That general had, indeed, lost no time in taking steps to bring on a decisive battle. While the British were marching to Lourinha, he had, with loisance division, crossed the line of Le Borde's retreat, and on the same evening reached Taurus Vidras, where the next day he was joined by Le Borde, and on the twentieth by his reserve. In the meantime, he sent forward his cavalry, which scoured the country round the rear of the British camp, and prevented the general from obtaining any information, whatever, as to his position or intentions. The arrival of Acklin's brigade on the night of the twentieth increased the fighting strength of the army to sixteen thousand men, with eighteen guns, exclusive of Trans-Portuguese, while Sir Arthur judged that Junot could not put more than fourteen thousand in the field. Previous to leaving Mondigo, he had sent to Sir Harry Berard notice of his plan of campaign, advising him to let Sir John Moore, on his arrival with five thousand men, disembark there and march on to Santorum, where he would protect the left of the army in its advance, block the line of the Tagus, and menace the French line of communication between Lisbon and the important fortress of Elvis. The ground at Santorum was suited for defense, and Moore could be joined with Friere, who was still with his five thousand men, at Lourinha. The general intended to make a forced march, keeping by the sea road. A strong advance guard would press forward and occupy the formidable position of Mathaia in the rear of the hills. With the main body he intended to see some heights a few miles behind Torres Vedras, and to cut the road between that place and Montecique on the direct road to Lisbon, and so interposed between Junot and the capital. At twelve o'clock that night, Sir Arthur was roused by a messenger, who reported that Junot, with twenty thousand men, was advancing to attack him, and was but an hour's march distant. He disbelieved the account of the force of the enemy, and had no doubt that the messenger's fears had exaggerated the closeness of his approach. He therefore contented himself with sending orders to the pickets to use redoubled vigilance, and at daylight the whole British force was, as usual, under arms. Nothing could have suited the British commander better than that Junot should attack him, for the position of Vimera was strong, the town was situated in a valley through which the little river Mathira flows. In this were placed the commissariat stores, while the Cavalry and Portuguese were on a small plain behind the village. In front of Vimera was a steep hill with a flat top commanding the ground to the south and east for a considerable distance. Faines and Anstrother's infantry, with six guns, were posted here. Faines left rested on a churchyard, blocking a road which led round the declivity of the hill to the town. Behind this position, and separated by the river and road, was a hill extending in a half-moon to the sea. Five brigades of infantry, forming the British right, occupied this mountain. On the other side of the ravine, formed by the river, just beyond Vimera, was another strong and narrow range of heights. There was no watch to be found on this ridge, and only the fortieth regiment and some pickets were stationed here. It was vastly better to be attacked in such a position than to be compelled to storm the heights of Torres Vigras held by a strong French army. The advance of the French was fortunate in another respect. On the twentieth, Sir Harry Burrard arrived in the bay on board a frigate, and Sir Arthur, thus superseded, went on board to report the position of affairs, renewing his recommendation that Sir John More should land in Mondego and march to Santorum. Sir Harry Burrard, however, had already determined that his fort should land at Massira, and he refused to remit Sir Arthur's plan of advance to be carried out, and ordered that no offensive step should be undertaken until Sir John More had landed. The advance of Junot, happily, left Wellesley at liberty to act, and disposing his force in order of battle, he awaited the appearance of the enemy. It was not until seven o'clock that a cloud of dust was seen rising above the opposite ridge, and an hour later a body of cavalry crowned the height and sent out a swarm of scouts in every direction. Almost immediately afterwards, a body of cavalry and infantry were seen marching along the road from Torres Vedras to Alurenha, threatening to turn the left of the British position. As the British right was not menaced, four of the brigades on the hill on that flank were ordered to cross the valley and take post with the fortieth regiment for the defense of the ridge. This movement, being covered by the Vimira Heights, was unseen by the enemy. The fifth brigade and the Portuguese were on a second ridge behind the other, and thus assisted to cover the English left and protect its rear. The ground between the crest on which the French were first seen, and our position was so thickly covered with wood, that after the enemy had descended into it, no correct view of their movements could be obtained. Junot had intended to fall upon the English army at daybreak, but the defiles through which the force had to pass had delayed the march, as had the fatigue of the troops, who had been marching all night. From the height from which he obtained a view of the British position, it seemed to him that the British center and right were held in great strength, and that the left was almost unguarded. He therefore determined to tack upon that flank, which indeed was, in any case, the most favorable, as, were he successful there, he would cut the line of the British retreat and pen them up on the seashore. The march of the four brigades through Vimira to take post on the British left was hidden from him, and he divided his force into two heavy columns, one of which would attack the British left, and having mounted the height to sweep all before it into the town, the other was to attack Vimira Hill, held by Anstrother and Fein. Breneer commanded the attack against the left, Le Borde against the center, Loisen followed at a short distance. Kiliman commanded the reserve of Grenadiers. Unfortunately for the success of Juno's plan, he was unaware of the fact that along the foot of the ridge on the British left ran a deep ravine that rendered it very difficult to attack, except at the extreme end of the position. We are going to have our share of fun today, O'Grady said as he stood with a group of officers watching the wooded plain and the head of Le Borde's column debouching from among the trees and moving towards the hill. There was a general murmur of satisfaction from the officers, for although they had all laughed at O'Grady's exaggerated regrets at their not being engaged at Rolisa, all were somewhat sore at the regiment having had no opportunity of distinguishing itself on that occasion. No sooner had the column cleared the wood than the six guns posted with Feins and Anstrother's brigade at once open fired upon it. It had been intended that Breneer's attack should begin at the same time as the Le Borde's, but that the advance had been stopped by the defile, which was so steep and so encumbered with rocks, brushwood, and trees that his troops had the most extreme difficulty in making their way across. This enabled Ackland, whose brigade was in the act of mounting heights from the town, to turn his battery against Le Borde's column, which was thus smitten with a shower of grape in both the front and flank, and to this was added a heavy musketary fire from the three brigades. Take it easy lads, take it easy, the colonel said as he walked up and down the ranks, they are hardly unrange yet, and you had better keep your ammunition until they get to the foot of the hill, than you can blaze away as hard as you like. Junot receiving news of the arrest of Breneer's column and the obstacles that he had encountered, and seeing that the whole British fire was now directed against Le Borde, ordered Leusen to support that general with one brigade, and directed Solignac to turn the ravine in which Breneer was entangled and to fall upon the left extremity of the enemy's line. Fane had been given discretionary power to call up the reserve artillery posted in the village behind him, and seeing so strong an attack against his position about to be made, called it up to the top of the hill. Leusen and Le Borde now formed their troops into three columns of attack, one advance against that part of the hill held by and Struthers Brigade, another a denver to penetrate by the road past the church on Fane's extreme left, while the main column represented by a large number of the best troops advance against the center of the position. The reserve artillery and the battery originally there opened a terrible fire which was aided by the musketry of the infantry, but with loud shouts the French press forward, and although already shaken by the terrible fire of the artillery, and breathless from their exertions, they gained the crest of the hill. Before they could reform, a tremendous volley was poured into them, and with a wild yell, the myofusiliers and the fithiest charged them in front and flank and hurled them down the hill. In the meantime, and Struthers, having repulsed the less serious attack made on him, detached the forty-third to check the enemy's column moving through the churchyard, and prevented their advance until Kilerman brought up a force of grenadiers, who, running forward with loud shouts, drove back the advance companies of the forty-third. The guns on the heights were turned upon them with great effect, and those of Eklens and Beaux's brigades on the left of the ridge took them in flank and brought them almost to a standstill. Then the forty-third, in one mass, charged furiously down the column, and after a fierce struggle, drove them back in confusion. The French attacks on this side had now completely failed, and Colonel Taylor, riding out with his little body of cavalry, dashed out into the confused mass, slaying and scattering it. Margarine, who commanded a superior force of French cavalry, led them down through their infantry and, falling upon the British force, killed Taylor and cut half his squadron into pieces. Kilerman took pulse with his reserve of grenadiers in a pine wood in advance of the wood country through which they had advanced, while Magran's horsemen maintained a position covering the retreat of the fugitives into the wood. At this moment, Solignac reached his assigned position and encountered Ferguson's brigade, which was on the extreme left of the division, and was taken by surprise on finding a force equal to his own where he had expected to find the hill untenanted, where he had expected to find the hill untenanted. Ferguson was drawn up in three lines on a steep declivity. A heavy artillery fire opened upon the French as soon as they were seen, while the fifth brigade and the Portuguese marched along the next ridge and threatened the enemy's rear. Ferguson did not wait to be attacked, but marched his brigade against the French, who, falling fast under the musketry in artillery fire which had swept their lines, fell back fighting to the farthest edge of the ridge. Solignac was carried off severely wounded and his brigade was cut off from his line of retreat and driven into a low valley, in which stood the village of Paranza, leaving six guns behind them. Ferguson left two regiments to guard these guns, and with the rest of his force pressed hard upon the French. But at this moment, Renier, who had at last amounted the difficulties that had detained him, fell upon the two regiments suddenly and retook the guns. The 82nd and 71st speedily recovered from their surprise, rallied on some higher ground, and then, after pouring in a tremendous volley of musketry, charged with a mighty shout and overthrew the French brigade and recovered the guns. Renier himself was wounded in taking prisoner, and Ferguson, having completely broken out the brigade opposed to him, would have forced the greater part of Solignac's troops to surrender, if he had not been required to halt by an unexpected order. The French veterans speedily rallied and in admirable order, protected by their cavalry, marched off to join the comrades who had been defeated in their attack upon the British centre. It was now twelve o'clock. The victory was complete. Thirteen guns had been captured. Neither the 1st, 5th nor Portuguese brigades had fired a shot, and the 4th and 8th had suffered very little. Therefore, Sir Arthur resolved with these five brigades to push Junot closely, while Hill, and Struther, and Thane were to march forward as far as Tourist Vidras, and pushing on to Montecique, cut him off from Lisbon. Had this operation been executed, Junot would probably have lost all his artillery, and seven thousand stragglers would have been driven to seek shelter under the guns of Elvis, from which fortress, however, he would have been cut off, had more landed as Sir Arthur wished at Montego. Unhappily, however, the latter was no longer Commander-in-Chief. Sir Harry Bourrard, who had been present at the action, had not interfered with the arrangements, but as soon as victory was won, he assumed command, sent an order arresting Ferguson's career victory, and forbade all further offensive operations until the arrival of Sir John Moore. The adjutant general and quartermaster supported his views, and Sir Arthur's earnest representations were disregarded. Sir Arthur's plan would probably have been crowned with success, but it was not without peril. The French had rallied with extraordinary rapidity under the protection of their cavalry. The British artillery carriages were so shaken as to be almost unfit for service. The horses insufficient in number and wretched in quality. The commissariat wagons in the greatest confusion and the higher Portuguese vehicles had made off in every direction. The British cavalry were totally destroyed, and two French regiments had just made their appearance on the ridge behind the wood where Junot's troops were reforming. Sir Harry Bourrard, with a caution characteristic of age, refused to adopt Wellesley's bold plan. A great success had been gained, and that would have been imperiled by Junot's falling with all his force upon one or other of the British columns. Sir Arthur himself had a latter period when a commission was appointed by parliament to inquire into the circumstances, admitted that, though he still believed that success would have attended his own plan, he considered that Sir Harry Bourrard's decision was fully justified on military grounds. Junot took full advantage of the unexpected cessation of hostilities. He reformed his broken army on the arrival of the two regiments, which brought it up to its original strength, and then, covered by his cavalry, marched in good order until darkness fell. He had regained the command of the passes of tourist Vedras, and the two armies occupied precisely the same positions that they had done on the previous evening. One general, 13 guns, and several hundred prisoners fell into the hands of the British, and Junot's total loss far exceeded that of the British, which was comparatively small. At the commencement of the fight, the British force was more than two thousand larger than that of the French, but of these only a half had taken an active part of the battle, while every man in Junot's army had been sent forward to the attack. Sir Harry Bourrard's command was a short one, for on the following morning, Sir Hugh Dalrymple superseded him. Thus, in twenty-four hours, a battle had been fought, and the command of the army had been three times changed, a striking proof of the abject folly and incapacity of the British ministry of the day. Two of these three commanders arrived fresh on the scene without any previous knowledge of the situation, and all three differed from each other in their views regarding the general plan of the campaign. The last two were men without any previous experience in the handling of large bodies of troops, and without any high military reputation, while the man displays had already shown the most brilliant capacity in India, and was universally regarded as the best general in the British service. Dalrymple adopted neither the energetic action advised by Sir Arthur, nor the inactivity supported by Bourrard, but taking a middle course, decided to advance on the following morning, but not to go far until Sir John Moore landed at Masira. Sir Arthur was strongly opposed to this policy. He pointed out that there were at present on shore but seven or eight days' provisions for the force of the Mera. No further supplies could be attained in the country, and at any moment a gale might arise and scatter or destroy the fleet, from which alone they could draw supplies during their advance. The debate on the subject was continuing when the French general, Kellerman, bearing a flag of truce, and escorted by a strong body of cavalry, arrived at the outpost and desired a conference. The news was surprising indeed. Junot's force was practically unshaken. He possessed all the strong places in Portugal and could have received support in a short time from the French forces in Spain. Upon the other hand, the position of the British, even after winning a victory, was by no means a satisfactory one. They had already learned that it was useless to rely in the slightest degree upon Portuguese promises or Portuguese assistance, and that, even in the matter of provisions and carriage, their commander-in-chief expected to be maintained by those who had come to aid in freeing the country of the French. Instead of these receiving any help from him. In carriage, the British army was wholly deficient of cavalry they had none. When Sir John More landed, there would be but four days' provisions on shore for the army, and were the fleet driven off by a gale, starvation would at once threaten them. The gallantry with which the French had fought in both engagements, the skill with which they had been handled, and above all the quickness and steadiness with which, after the defeat, they had closed up their ranks and drawn off in excellent order, showed that the task of dispelling such truths from the country would, even if all went well in other respects, be a very formidable one. And the offer of a conference was therefore at once embraced by Sir Hugh Dalrymple. Killerman was admitted to the camp. His mission was to demand a cessation of arms in order that Junomite, under certain conditions, evacuate Portugal. The advantage of freeing the country from the French without further fighting was so evident that Sir Hugh at once agreed to discuss the terms, and took Sir Arthur Wesley into his councils. The latter quite agreed with the policy by which a strong French army would be quietly got out of the country, in which it had held all the military posts in strong positions. A great moral effect would be produced, and the whole resources of Portugal would then be available for operations in Spain. By the afternoon, the main points of the convention had been generally agreed upon. The French were to evacuate Portugal, and were to be conveyed in English vessels to France with their property, public, or private. There was to be no persecution of persons who had been the adherents of France during the occupation. The only serious difference that arose was as to the Russian fleet in the Tagus. Killerman proposed to have it guaranteed from capture, with leave to return to the Baltic. This however was refused, and the question was referred to Admiral Cotton, who, as Chief Representative of England, would have to approve the treaty before it could be signed. Killerman returned to Lisbon with Colonel Morey, the Quartermaster General, and after three days negotiations, the treaty was finally concluded. The Russian difficulty being settled by their vessels being handled over to the bridge, and the crew transported in English ships to the Baltic. The convention was, under the circumstances, unquestionably a most advantageous one. It would have cost long and severe fighting, and the siege of several very strong fortresses before the French could have been turned out of Portugal. Heavy siege guns would have been necessary for these operations. At the very shortest calculation a year would have been wasted, very heavy loss of life incurred, and an immense expenditure of money before the result now attained so suddenly and unexpectedly had been arrived at. Nevertheless, the news of the convention was received with a burst of popular indignation in England, where the public, wholly ignorant of the difficulty of the situation, had formed the most extravagant hopes founded on the two successes obtained by their troops. The result was that a commission was appointed to investigate the whole matter. The three English generals were summoned to England to attend before it, and so gross were the misrepresentations and lies by which the public had been deceived by the agents of the unscrupulous and ambitious Bishop of Oporto and his Confederates, that it was even proposed to bring the generals to trial, who had in so short a time and with such insufficient means freed Portugal from the French. Sir John Moore remained in command of the troops in Portugal. Chapter 6 of With More at Caruna by Gia Henti This is a LibraVox recording. All LibraVox recordings were in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibraVox.org. Recording by Charles Sapp. With More at Caruna by Gia Henti Chapter 6 A Pause The Mayo fused the ears and suffered their full proportion of losses at the Battle of Imera. Major Harrison had been killed. Captain O'Connor had been severely wounded, as his company had been thrown forward as skirmishers on the face of the hill, and a third of their number had fallen, when the board's great column had driven them in as it charged up the ascent. Terence's father had been brought to the ground by a ball that struck him near the hip, had been trampled on by the French as they passed up over him, and again on their retreat, and he was insensible when, as soon as the enemy retired, a party was sent down to bring up the wounded. By the death of the Major O'Connor, as senior captain, now attained that rank, but the doctor pronounced that it would be a long time before he would be able to take up his duties. Another captain, and three subalters had been killed, and several other officers had been wounded. Among these was O'Grady, whose left arm had been carried away below the elbow by a round shot. As Terence was in the other wing of the regiment, he did not hear of his father's wounds until after the battle was over, and on the order being given that there was to be no pursuit, the regiment fell out of its ranks. As soon as the news reached him, he obtained permission to go down to Vimera, where the church and other buildings had been turned into temporary hospitals, to which the seriously wounded had been carried as soon as the French retired. Hurrying down, he soon learned where the wounded of General Fane's brigade had been taken. He found the two regimental doctors hard at work. O'Flaherty came out to Terence as soon as he saw them enter the barn that had been hastily converted into a hospital by covering the floor deeply with straw. I think your father will do, Terence, my boy, he said cheeringly. We have just got the bullet out of his leg, and we hope that it has not touched the bone, though we cannot be altogether sure. We shall know more about that when we have got through the rough of our work. Still, we have every hope that he will do well. He is the next door at the further end. We put him there to let him get as much fresh air as possible, for by the powers this place is like a furnace. Captain O'Connor was lying on his back, the straw having been arranged, so as to raise his shoulders in head. He smiled when Terence came up to him. Thank God you have got safely through it, lad. I should not have minded being hit, father, if you had escaped, Terence said with difficulty suppressing the sob, while in spite of his efforts the tears rolled down his cheeks. The doctors say I shall pull through all right. I hear poor Harrison is killed. He was a good fellow, though it has given me my step. I am heartily sorry, so we have thrashed them, lad. That is a comfort. I was afraid when they went up that hill that they might be too much for us, and I was delighted when I heard them coming tearing down again, though I had not much time to think about it. They had stepped over me pretty much as they went up, but they had no time to pick their way as they came back again. And after one or two I jumped on me. I remember no more about it, until I found myself here with open hurt, probing the wound, and hurting me horribly. I am bruised all over, and I wonder some of my ribs are not broken. At present they hurt me a good deal more than this wound in the hip. Still, that is only a fear of a day or two, who have been killed besides the Major. Dormin, Philips, and Henderson are killed. Ol' Grady is wounded, I hear, and so are Saunders, Byrne, and Sullivan. There have been some others hit, but not seriously. They did not have to fall out. Ol' Grady is over on the other side somewhere, Terence. I heard his voice just now. Go and see where he is hurt. Ol' Grady was sitting up with his back to the wall, the sleeves of his jacket and shirt had been cut off, and a tourniquet was on his arm just above the elbow. Well, Terence, he said cheerfully, I'm in luck, you see. I can't see any luck about it, Ol' Grady. Why, man, it might have been my right arm, and where should I have been then? Add to the left arm, one can do without it very well. Then again, it is lucky that the ball hit me below the elbow and not above it. Ol' Grady said they were able to make a decent job of it, and that after a bit they will be able to fit a wooden arm on so that I could screw a fork into it. The worst of it at present is that I have a terrible thirst in me, and nothing but water have they given me, a thing that I've not drunk for years. They have tied up the arteries, and they are going presently to touch at the loose ends with hot pitch to start the bleeding altogether. It is not a pleasant job, they have done it to two or three of the men already. One of them stood it well, but the others cried a thousand murders. Ol' Grady has promised me a drink of whiskey and water before they do it, and just at present I feel as if I would let them burn all my limbs at the same price. It is sorry I am Terrence to hear that your father is hit so hard, but Alpha Hersey says that he will get through it all right. Well, he will get his majority, though I am mighty sorry that Harrison is killed. He was a good boy, though he was an Englishman. Ah, Terrence, my heart soar when I think what I said the evening after the fight at Raleesa. I did not mean it altogether, but the words come home to me now. It is not for myself, but for the poor boys that have gone. It was just thoughtlessness, but I would give me other arm not to have said those words. I know that you did not mean it, Ol' Grady, and we were all feeling sorry that the regimen had not a chance to be in the thick of it. Here they are, coming this way with the pitch kettle. You had better get away in that before they began. Terrence was glad to follow the advice, and hurried out of the barn and walked three or four hundred yards away. He was very fond of Ol' Grady, who had always been very kind to him, and who was thoroughly warm-hearted and a good fellow, in spite of his eccentricities. In a quarter of an hour he returned, just as he was entering, all for the hurt he came out of the door. I must have a breath of fresh air, Terrence, he said. The heat is stifling in there, and though we are working under a shirt sleeve, we are just as damp as if we had been thrown into a pond. Has Ol' Grady's arm been seared? Yes, and he stood it well. Not a word did he say until it was over. Then he said, Give me another drink, Ol' Flaherty. It's wake like I feel. Before I could get the cup to his lips, he went off in a faint. He has come round now, and has had a drink of weak whisky and water, and is lying quiet and composed. It is better that you should not go near him at present. I hope that he will drop off to sleep presently. I have just given a glance at your father, and he is nearly, if not quite so, asleep too, so you might better leave them now, and look in again this evening. Now that the affair is over, and there is time to go round, they will clear out some houses and get things more comfortable. The principal medical officer was round here half an hour ago. He said they would fit up rooms for the officers at once, and I will have your father, Ol' Flaherty, and Saunders carried up on stretchers, and put into a room together. If they can bear the moving, it will be all in their favour, for it will be cooler there than in this oven of a place. I hear the church has been re-quisitioned, and that the worst cases among our men will be taken there. In comparison with the loss of the French, that of the British had been very small. From their position on commanding heights they had suffered but little from the fire of the French artillery, and the casualties were almost confined to Faines Brigade, the 43rd Regiment, and Struthers, and the two regiments of Ferguson's Brigade that had been attacked by Brineer, and before nightfall the whole of the wounded had been brought in and attended to. The hospitals arranged, and the men far more comfortably bestowed than in the temporary quarters taken up during the heat of the conflict. As there was no prospect of an immediate movement, the soldier-servants of the wounded officers had been excused from military duty and told off to attend to them, and when Terence went down in the evening he found his father, O'Grady and Saunders, the latter a young lieutenant, comfortably lodged in a large room in which three hospital beds had been placed. O'Grady had quite recovered his usual spirits. Don't draw such a long-faced tenets, he said as the lad entered. We are all going unwell. Your father has been bandaged all over the chest and body, and is able to breathe more comfortably. As for me, except that I feel as if someone were twisting a red-hot needle about in my arm, I am as right as possible, and Saunders is doing first rate. The doctors thought at first that he had got a ball through his body. After they got him here they had time to examine him carefully, and they find that it has just run around the ribs and gone out behind, and that he will soon be about again. If it wasn't that the doctor say I must drink nothing but water with lemon juice squeezed into it, I would have nothing to complain of. We have got a servant, who then came in blubbering like a calf, the mad hound, and I had to threaten to send him back to the regiment before he would be sensible. He has sworn off spirits until I am well enough to take to them, which is a comfort, for I am sorry to say he is one of those men who never know when they have had enough. Like master like man, O' Grady! Terrence, when I get well, you will repaint of your impudence to your superior officer, when he is not able to defend himself. Terrence went across to his father's bed. Do you feel easier, father? A great deal, lad! I was so bruised that every breath I took hurt me. Since I have been tightly bandaged, I am better, ever so much. Dalle says that in a few days I shall be all right again as to that, but that the other business will keep me on my back for a long time. He has examined my wound again, and says he won't touch it for a few days, but I can see that he is rather afraid that the bone has been grazed, if not splintered. You have not heard what is going to be done, have you? No, father. The talk is that no move will be made anyhow, until Sir John Moore lands with his troops. After that I suppose we shall go forward. It is a pity we did not push forward to daylight, if, as I hear, half the force were never engaged at all. Junot would not have carried off a gun if our father's had been launched against them while they were in disorder. As it is, I hear they marched away over that ridge in as good a order as they came, as though we shall have all the work of thrashing them to do over again. They say that is what Sir Arthur wanted to do, father, but Berard overruled him. Did any man ever hear such nonsense, as a general who knows nothing at all about the matter coming, and taking over the command from a general who was just won a battle, and who has all the ins and outs of the matter at his finger ends? Now my dear O'Connor, O'Grady broken, you know what Daly said, the quieter your lie, and the less you talk the better. He did not say so to myself, in the first place, because he knew it would be of no use, and in the second, because there is no raisin on Earth's lie, because a man has lost a bit of his arm, his tongue should not wag. And what does the Colonel say, Terence? Is he not delighted with the regiment? He is that, and he has a right to be, Terence said. The way they went at the French, and tumbled them over the crests and down the hill was splendid. The tears rolled down his cheeks when he heard that the Major and the others were killed, but he said that a man could not die more gloriously. He shook hands with all the officers after it was over, and sent a party down to the town to bury and bring up barrels of wine, and served out a good allowance to each man. As soon as the firing sees, I heard him tell O'Driscoll that he was proud to have commanded the regiment. That is good, Terence. And now, do you think that you could bring me up just the taste of the crater? The devil had dropped, O'Grady. If Dally and O'Flaherty both say that you are not to have it, it is certain that it is bad for you. But I'll tell you what I will do. I have one bottle of whiskey left, and I will promise you that it shan't be touched till you are well enough to drink it, and if we are marched away, as I suppose we shall be, I will hand it over to O'Flaherty to give you when you are fit to take it. He tells me that he will be left to look after the wounded when we move. I cannot trust him, Terence. I would hand all our bag of gold uncounted to him, but as for whiskey, the temptation would be too great for an Irishman to resist. Look here. You'll put it into a wooden box and nail it up securely, and write on it O'Grady's arm, and hand it over to him solemnly, and tell him that I have a fancy for burying the contents myself, which will be joined up, though it is me throat I mean to bury it in. Knowing that it was best they should be left in quiet, Terence soon left them and returned to the regiment. Well, Dick, what did you think of a battle, Yesicham? I don't know what I did think. It does not seem to me that I thought much about it at all. Well, with the noise of the firing and the shouting of the men, and the whistle overhead of the French shot, and the men shelling, and the French shouting and the excitement, there was no time for thinking at all. For the time the skirmishers came running up the hill, to the time when we rolled the French down it, I seemed to have been in a dream. It's lucky that I had no words of command to give, for I am sure I should not have given them. I don't think I was frightened at all. Somehow I did not seem to think of the danger. It was just a horrible confusion. I felt very much like that too. It was not a bit like what it was when we took that break. I felt cool enough when we jumped onto our deck, but then there was no noise to speak of, while the row this morning was tremendous. I tried to cheer when the men did, but I could not hear my own voice, and I don't know whether I made any sound or not. A delay of some weeks took place after the Battle of Imera. The Maya of Yusulir were not among the Jews who entered Lisbon, in order to overall the populace and prevent tax both upon French soldiers and officers, and Portuguese suspected of leaning towards French cause. Throughout the country everything was in confusion. A strong party, at whose head were the Bishop of Oporto and Friere, denounced a convention with the French, against whom they themselves had done nothing, as gross treachery on the part of the English to Portugal. They endeavored in every way to excite the feelings of the population, both in the country and the capital, against the British. But in this they failed altogether, for the people were too thankful to get rid of the oppression and the exactions of the invaders to feel all the satisfaction at their being compelled to leave the country. The junta at Oporto, at whose head was the Bishop, desired to grasp the entire power throughout the country, and were furious at being sworn at their endeavours to prevent a central junta being established at Lisbon. Throughout Spain also chaos reigned. Every provincial junta refused cooperation with the others, and instead of concerning measures for resistance against the great force that Napoleon was assembling on the frontier, thought only of satisfying the ambitions and greed of its members. The generals disregarded alike the orders from the central junta at Madrid and those of the provincial junta, quarreled amongst themselves to a point that sometimes approached open hostility, and each acted only for his private ends. Irons have been sent in vast numbers from England, yet while the money so lavishly bestowed by British agents went into the pockets of individuals, the arms retained by the junta of Seville, Cadiz, and the maritime ports, and the armies of Spain were left almost unarmed. The term army is indeed absurd, as applied to the gatherings of peasants without an idea of discipline, with scarcely any instruction and drill, and in the majority of cases, as the result proved, altogether division encouraged. And yet, while neglecting all military precautions and ready to crumble the pieces at the first approach of the French, the arrogance and insolence of the authorities, civil and military alike, were absolutely unbounded. They disregarded wholly the advice of the British officers and agents, and treated the men who alone could save them from the consequences of their folly with open contempt. After a fortnight's halt at Vimera, the Mayel fusiliers were marched, with four other regiments, to Torres Vigas, where they took up their quarters. In the middle of October, Orgrady and Saunders rejoined, and Teras obtained a few days' leave to visit his father. The latter's progress had been slow, the wound was unhealed, pieces of bone working their way out, and the doctors had decided that he must be invalid at home, as it was desirable to clear out the hospitals altogether before the army marched into Spain. They think the change of air would be good, Major Connor said to Teras as they were chatting together after the latter arrived, and I think so myself. It is evident that it cannot take part in the next campaign, but I hope to rejoin again in the spring. Of course it is hard, but I must not grumble, if the bullet had been half an inch more to the right, it would have smashed the bone altogether. Then I should have had small chance indeed, but taking off the leg at the hip is an operation that not one man and twenty survives. Over the hurt he says he thinks that all the bits of bone have worked out now, and that I may not be permanently lame. But if it is to be so bad, it is of no use kicking against fate. I have got my majority, and if permanently disabled by my wounds, can retire on a pension on which I can live comfortably. So I hear that Sir John Moore is going to march into Spain. By the way, you have got some cousins in El Porto or the neighborhood, though I don't suppose you are likely to run against them. I never heard you say anything about them before, Father. No, I don't think I ever did mention it. A first cousin of mine went over, just about the time that I was married, to El Porto and established himself there as a wine merchant. He had been out there before for a firm in Dublin, and when Clancy's father died, he came into some money, he went out, as I said, and started for himself. He was a sharp fellow, and did well, and married the daughter of a big landowner. We used to hear from him occasionally. He died about a year ago, and left a girl behind him. She had been brought up in her mother's religion. He never said much about his wife, by a fancy she was a very strong woman Catholic, and that they did not quite agree about the girl, who, as I gathered, had a hankering after her father's religion. However, after Clancy died, we never heard any more of them. There was a letter from their man of business announcing the death, and stated that Clancy had left his own property, that is to say, the money he had made in business, to the girl. What has become of her since, I do not know. It was no business of mine, though I believed that I was his nearest relation. At least my uncle had no other children, and there were neither brothers nor sisters except him and my father. Still, as he left a widow who had a good big property on her own account, and was connected with a lot of grandie families, there was no occasion for me to mix myself up in the affair, and indeed it never entered my head to do so. Yet Clancy and I were great friends, and I should be glad to know what has become of his girl. I fancy that she is about your age, and if more should take you up north, you might make some inquiries there. The mother's family name was Monterey's, and I fancy, from what Clancy said, her father's property was somewhere to the north of a portal, so I expect that at that town you would be likely to hear something of them. All right Father, if we go there, I will be sure to make some inquiries. On the fourth day after Terence's arrival, the hospital was broken up. The Convalences marched for Tours Vigas, a major o' Connor, with four other officers and 40 men were put on board a ship to be taken to England. Your visit has done your father good, Terence. O' Flaherty said as, after seeing the party safely on board ship, he returned to the town once they were to march with the Convalences, sixty in number, among whom were five officers. He has brightened up a great deal on the last four days, and his wounds look distinctively more healthy. I have a strong hope that all those splinters have worked out now, and your being here is giving him a fillip, so that he is all together better and more cheerful. I hope by spring he will be able to rejoin us. I can tell you I am mighty glad to be off again myself. It's been pretty hard work here, for I have had, for the last fortnight, a hundred and twenty men in my hands. At first there were three of us here, but two went off with the last batch of Convalences, and I have been alone since. Luckily, Bager Peters has been well enough to look after things in general, and held the commissariat man. Still, with forty bad cases, I have not had much time on my hands. Of course, I knew him and all the other officers, but they all belonged to other regiments, and it was not like being among the mayows. And when do you think we will be starting again? I have no idea. I have heard that Moore is doing everything he can to hurry on things, but that he is awfully hampered for want money. It is scandalous. Here are our agents supplied with immense sums for the use of these blackened Spaniards, yet they keep their own army without funds. If the general has no funds, Terence, he had better be stopping where he is. There is no getting anything in Portugal without payment ten times the proper price for it, and from what I hear of the Spaniards, they will charge twenty times, put the money in their pockets, and then not even give you what you pay for. As to there being any good to us as allies, it is not to be hoped for. They will take our arms and our money, expect us to feed their troops, and will then run away at the sight of a friend's soldier. You will see if they don't. I hear that the junta of Coruna says that all the North will rise as soon as we enter their country. They may rise and flock round us until they have got arms and money, then they will go off to their homes again. That is the sort of assistance that has been had for them. We should do a deal better if there is not a Spaniard in the country, and it was left to us to fight it out with the French. In that case, we should never cross the frontier at all. They say that Napoleon is gathering a great army, and against such a force with the French troops already in Spain, our twenty or twenty five thousand men would very badly, especially as they say that the Emperor is coming himself. That is worse news than the other Terence, and it is only because the French generals have always been quarreling amongst themselves that the whole peninsula has not been conquered. But with Napoleon at the head of affairs, it would be a different matter altogether. And my humble opinion is that we had better stay where we are until he has wiped out the Spaniards altogether. Terence laughed. You don't take a sanguine view of things. You have been with the regimen Terence, and have had very little to do with the natives. I have not seen very much of them either, thank goodness, but I have seen quite enough to know that though perhaps the peasants would make good soldiers, if officered by Englishmen, there is nightly little feeling of patriotism among the classes above them. Reading and writing may be good for some countries, but as far as I see here, reading and writing spoil them here. For every man one comes across who can sign his name is intent either on filling his pocket or on working some scheme or other for his own advantage. If I were Sir John Moore, I would send up a division to a portal, hang the vision, and every member of the junta shoot free air and a dozen of his principal officers, and if the people of a portal gave them the chance, clear the streets with great shout. Why, if it hadn't been for a small guard of our fellows, with the French garrisons that were marched down there to embark, the Portuguese would have murdered every man jack of them. They did murder a good many, and robbed them all of their baggage, and if it had not been that our men loaded and would have fired on them, if they had gone further, not a Frenchman would have got off alive. If this had been done in Lisbon, where the French had been masters, there might have been some sort of excuse for it, but they had never been near a portal at all, and therefore the people there had no scores to settle with them. I am afraid, over the herty, that an army worked on your principles would never get far from the coast, for we shall have the whole country against us. So much the better if we never got far from the coast. How much help have we had from them? There is not a single horse or wagon for transport, except those we have hired at exorbitant prices. Not a single ounce of food. They would not even divide with us the magazines at Lyria, which they had no share in capturing. The rabble they call an army has never fired a shot, or marched a yard with us, except Transmall, command, and they were kept so far out of it in both fights. I doubt whether they fired a shot, and yet they take upon themselves to throw every obstacle in our way, to dictate to our generals, and to upset every plan as it was informed. Well, I shall be glad to be back with a regiment again, Terrence. There is some fun going on there anyhow, and I have not had a hearty laugh since old Grady went off ten days ago. We were all heartily glad to see him back again, Terrence said. He does not seem a bit worse for having lost his hand. Now he has got through it a deal better than I expected, considering that he is not what might be called a very temperate man. Not by any means. It is not very often he takes more liquor than he can carry, but he generally goes very close to the mark. I kept them very short here, over the hurt he laughed, and told him that if he did not obey orders I would have him invalid at home, and I have got him to promise that he will draw in a bit in the future, and have good hopes of his keeping it, seeing that when the army starts again you won't get much chance of indulging. It will be a good thing for the others as well, as old Grady, Terrence said quietly. I suppose in Ireland the whiskey does not do much harm, seeing that it is a wet country, but here I know that they cannot drink half as much as they were accustomed to without feeling it. That is true for you tenants. Half a bottle here goes as far as a bottle in the old country, and I find with the wounded spirits have a very bad effect, even the small quantities. There is one thing, when the troops are on the march they not only get small chance of getting drink, but mighty little time to think of it. When you have been doing your 20 miles a day with halts and stoppages on the baseline roads and the files, and are on your feet from daylight until late in the evening, and then perhaps a turn at the outpost, a man hasn't got much time for division, and even if there is liquor to be had, he is glad enough when he has had a glass or so to wrap himself in his cloak and lie down to sleep. I have nearly sworn off for myself, for I found that my head troubled me in the morning after a glass or two, more than it did after an all night sitting an athelon. Ah tenants, it is lucky for you that you have no fancy for it. I hope I never shall have both Laharty, if one has got thoroughly wet through in a long day's fishing, it may be that a glass of punch may keep away a cold, though even that I doubt, but I am sure that I am better without it at any other time, and I hope someday the fashion will change, and instead of it being considered almost a matter of course after a dinner that half the men should be under the table, it will then be looked upon as disgraceful for a man to get drunk, as it is now for a woman to do so. O'Flaharty looked at his companion with a mew surprise. Face, tenants, that would be a change indeed, and you might as well say that you hope the time will come when you can whip off a fellow's leg without his feeling pain. Perhaps that may come too, tenants laughed, there is no saying. The next morning the detachment started at Daybreak and marched towards Vedras, where they heard that a general moment was expected to begin. The regiment had now a comfortable mess, and the situation was freely discussed as scraps of news arrived from Lisbon. Could the English Ministry have heard the comments on their imbecility passed by the officers of the British Army, even they might have doubted the perfect wisdom of their plan. On the 6th of October, Moor had received a dispatch stating that 30,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry were to be employed in the north of Spain. 10,000 of these would be sent off direct from England. The remainder were to be composed of regiments from the army in Portugal. Moor had the choice of taking the troops round in ships or of marching them direct. He decided upon the latter course, for arrangements had been made by Sir Hugh Dalrymple to enter Spain by Almeida, and moreover he thought that the resources of the seacoast of Galicia would not be more than sufficient to supply transport and food for the 10,000 men who were to land there under the command of Sir David Baird. The English generals' difficulties were indeed overwhelming. He had soldiers who, although but recently raised, had shown themselves good fighters, but he was altogether without even transport sufficient for the officers. With an ample supply of money and experienced staff and a well-organized commissariat, the difficulties might have been overcome. But Sir John Moor was practically without money. His staff had no experience whatever, and the commissariat and transport officers were like ignorant of the work that they were called upon to perform. He was unacquainted with the views of the Spanish government, and uninformed as to the numbers, composition, and situation of the Spanish armies with whom he was to act, or with those of the enemy. He had a winter march of 300 miles before he could join Sir David Baird, who would have 200 miles to march from Coruna to join him, and there was then a distance of another 300 miles to be traversed before he reached the Ebro, which was designated as the center of his operations. And all this had to be done while a great French army was already pouring in through the passes of the Pyramids. No more tremendous, or it may be said impossible, task was ever assigned to an English commander. And to add to the absurdity of their scheme, the British government sent Officer David Baird without instructions and even without money. The Duke of York had vainly protested against the plan of the ministry, and had pointed out that nothing short of an army of 60,000 men, fully equipped with all necessaries for war, money, transport, and artillery could achieve success of any kind. Upon the day the Terrans rejoined, news came from the engineers in advance that the assurances Sir John Moore had received that the role by which the army was to travel was perfectly practicable for artillery and baggage wagons were wholly false, and it was probable that the artillery and cavalry would have to make a long circuit to the south. It was too late now to change the route for the rest of the army. Nearly half the force had already started on the road to Almeda, and the supplies for their subsistence had been collected at that town. Therefore, it was necessary that the main body of the infantry should travel by that road, while 3,000 were to act as a guard for the artillery and cavalry on the other route. End of Chapter 6, Recording by Charles Sapp