The History of the Rifle Brigade (the Prince Consort's Own) Formerly the 95th

On the 20th the two companies of the 1st Battalion which had embarked at Harwich, and had landed at Maceira on the day before, joined the army, which was then in position near Vimiera.

On the night of the 20th, a detachment of the 2nd Battalion, with some of the 60th, in all about 200 men, were on picquet in a large pine wood, on the road from Lourinha to Torres Vedras. About eight in the morning of the 21st, a cloud of light troops, followed by a strong column of the enemy, entering the wood, vigorously attacked this picquet and drove it in on the 97th, which was in support. As soon as the Riflemen had cleared the front of this regiment, passing by its right flank to the rear, the 97th poured a steady fire on the advancing column and held it in check, while the 52nd took it in flank and drove it back in confusion.[53] This picquet, on being driven in, rejoined the other 2nd Battalion companies. With this attack began the Battle of Vimiera. The Riflemen were soon assailed by a swarm of light troops, who covered the advance of large masses of infantry. These pressed on up the hill on which the Riflemen were posted, in spite of a deadly fire which they poured upon them; until, the Riflemen running in, the 50th received them with a destructive volley and a furious charge, which sent them, broken, down the hill in confusion, with the loss of seven guns and many prisoners. In this fight, three brothers of the name of Hart, privates in the 2nd Battalion, pressed on the French with such daring intrepidity, that Lieutenant Molloy, who himself was never far from his opponent in action, was obliged repeatedly to rebuke them: ‘D—n you!’ he cried, ‘keep back and get under cover. Do you think you are fighting with your fists, that you run into the teeth of the French!’

In the meanwhile the enemy were attacked in flank on our left by General Acland’s brigade, to which the two 1st Battalion companies were attached.

In his despatch of this victory and in General Orders Sir Arthur Wellesley particularly notices the valour and discipline of the 2nd Battalion of the 95th under Major Travers.[54]

In this battle the 2nd Battalion suffered severely; 3 sergeants and 34 rank and file having been killed; and Lieutenants Manners, Hill, James Johnson, William Cox, 3 sergeants, and 40 rank and file wounded. As they had left England about 400 strong, and had suffered at Obidos and Roleia, about one-fourth of their effective strength was put hors-de-combat at Vimiera.

No record exists of the casualties, if any, of the 1st Battalion companies on this day.

The two 1st Battalion companies, which had landed with General Acland’s brigade, were immediately after the action transferred to General Fane’s brigade, where they joined the four 2nd Battalion companies.

As I am the historian not of the War but of the Regiment, I need only add that, owing to the evacuation of Portugal by Junot’s army, and the Convention of Cintra, the portion of the Corps in the Peninsula was not actively employed for some months.

But at the end of August, the three companies of the 1st Battalion, which had been to Sweden with Sir John Moore, and had been disembarked in the Mondego on the 28th, joined their comrades in camp at Torres Vedras. There were now, therefore, five companies of the 1st and four of the 2nd on active service.

Early in September the five 1st Battalion companies moved across the Tagus to Villa Viciosa, where they were quartered; and the four 2nd Battalion companies soon after drew towards Lisbon, and encamped near it. The French army had not yet embarked, and the best feeling existed between our men and their late opponents; Riflemen and French soldiers walking about the streets of Lisbon and drinking together in the wine-shops.

Sir John Moore soon after assumed the command of the army; and moved from before Lisbon at the end of October. The Riflemen, marching with the central division, under Moore himself, on the 27th, by way of Abrantes, crossed the frontier into Spain on November 12, and proceeded by Ciudad Rodrigo to Salamanca, where they arrived about the 13th.

Meanwhile, five companies of the 1st Battalion still at home, embarked, under Major Norman M’Leod, to join the other companies already in Portugal; and four of the remaining companies of the 2nd Battalion embarked at Harwich, under Colonel Wade. After a short detention at Falmouth, they sailed for Spain, and disembarked at Corunna on October 26.[55] They were attached to the force under the command of Sir David Baird, and the Riflemen of both Battalions formed the advanced guard. A day or two after landing they marched to Betanzos, and thence through Lugo, Villa Franca, and Cacabelos, to Astorga, which they reached on November 26. Already on this march they experienced great privations, owing to the defective arrangements of the Commissariat; and it was not until they reached Celada, a village a few miles in advance of Astorga, where they halted for some days, that they were sufficiently supplied with provisions. They were then sent forward to La Bañeza; but after a few days’ halt they were, on account of a report that the enemy were in force in their front, recalled to Celada. Hence, on account of the utter rout of the Spanish armies, under Palafox and Castaños, at Tudela, Moore ordered Baird’s force to retire again to Corunna; and they retreated, the Riflemen now forming the rear-guard and halting at Cacabelos, while the army moved on to Villa Franca. But after a few days, Baird’s force was again ordered forward; and the Riflemen, now again forming the advanced guard, moved up through Astorga and La Bañeza to Benevente, which they reached on December 15. They marched again on the 17th, through Valderas, Mayorga, and Sahagun, and reached the Convent of Trianon, about a league from the latter place, on the 20th.

The companies of Riflemen were here reunited with those already in the Peninsula; the five companies under Major M’Leod joining the five head-quarter companies of the 1st Battalion under Colonel Beckwith; and the four companies of the 2nd Battalion, under Major Travers, which had served at Roleia and Vimiera, uniting themselves to the head-quarter companies under Colonel Wade, which had come out with Sir David Baird. When these men met, a few miles from the Trianon Convent, the new comers gave a loud cheer to the ‘heroes of Portugal,’ as they called their comrades who had fought at Roleia and Vimiera; which was heartily returned.[56] The worn and sunburnt appearance of the one set of Riflemen contrasted strangely with the trim and neat look of the other. They were soon all to be alike in the tokens of toil, want and suffering. A new distribution of the army taking place, consequent on the junction of Moore’s and Baird’s forces, the 1st Battalion were attached to the reserve, under Sir Edward Paget; and the 2nd Battalion, with a battalion of the 43rd and one of the 52nd, formed a brigade under Brigadier-General Robert Craufurd.

I will first trace the services of this Battalion till their separation from Moore’s army. On the evening of December 23 the Battalion was called to arms, with a view it was believed of attacking Soult in his position on the Carrion. In a cold and bitter night they moved forward; but had not marched far when they were countermanded, and returned to the quarters at Trianon. Surtees records an instance of Craufurd’s severe and impartial discipline during this night march. An officer of the Battalion, who was unwell, in passing a brook, of which there were many on the road, left his section and went round it. Craufurd, who happened to be by, recalled him, and made him walk through and through it several times.[57] The retreat commenced on the 25th, in terrible weather and over ground covered with snow. On that night they fell back to Mayorga; and the next day, though they started early, the state of the ground they had to get over was such that they did not reach the village of San Miguel till midnight. The day following they marched to Castro Pipa, near Castro Gonzalo. Here there was a bridge, the passage of which Craufurd was to guard until the army, the stragglers and the baggage had passed over, and then to destroy it. During this operation, while half the brigade worked at its destruction, the other half held the enemy at bay; for his cavalry hovered all round and frequently attacked them, and the Riflemen had some smart skirmishing. At last, at midnight on the 28th, the brigade passed over in single file by planks laid over the broken arches, and fell back to Benevente.[58]

On the next morning the 2nd Battalion left Benevente, and after a toilsome march of thirty miles, reached La Bañeza late at night; and on the following day moved on to their old quarter, Celada. On the 31st they marched into Astorga, and halted for an hour or two there while the magazine was destroyed; observing the road from Astorga to Leon, by which it was thought the enemy were advancing. However, they did not appear; and the Battalion moved on another wearisome march of twenty miles to Foncevadon. Here Craufurd’s brigade, which had hitherto formed the rear-guard, was detached, and proceeded by Orense to Vigo, in order to seize the passage of the Minho should Moore’s army find it necessary to retreat by that route. On January 1, 1809, therefore, the Battalion marched by most difficult mountain roads to Ponferrada. Here the men suffered great privation, the Alcalde having given all the bread to his countrymen of Romana’s army, which was marching with ours, and thus left our people without provisions after their wearisome march.

On the next day they marched over rugged snow-clad mountains; and while they were toiling over them another instance of Craufurd’s iron discipline occurred. The word being passed to open out to allow the General to pass, a hungry Rifleman called out that ‘he had more need to give them bread.’ This, unhappily, reached the General’s ears, who at once halted the brigade, ordered the offender to be tried by drum-head Court-Martial, and flogged on the spot: a terrible, perhaps a necessary, check to murmuring under such privations. So, labouring in hunger and fatigue, the Battalion toiled on to San Domingo-Flores, which they reached at ten o’clock at night, and after a scanty ration of black bread, lay down, wet and weary, till dawn, when another long and difficult march brought them at night to La Rua. These terrible marches caused many stragglers; many perished on the inhospitable hills; many fell into the hands of the yet more cruel enemy; and some, with the help of some refreshment from the sparse and poor population, dragged on wearily and rejoined the Battalion at Orense or Vigo.

In such want and sufferings the Battalion reached Orense on January 7, having pushed on a detachment by forced marches to secure the bridge over the Minho there. A halt on the 8th enabled the men to wash their linen and take off their clothing and accoutrements; a relief they had not had for many days; and a supply of provisions much refreshed the starving soldiers.

On the 9th they resumed their retreat, marching that day to Rivadavia, through roads inundated by the overflowing of the Minho and Avia, swollen by the incessant rains and melting snow. Three more such toilsome marches brought them to Vigo. And when they crowned the hills at some distance from the town, and, looking down on the bay and ria of Vigo, saw the ships which were there waiting to convey them home, the hearts of the weary, foot-sore Riflemen bounded for joy, and the rest of the day’s march was performed with a long unwonted cheerfulness. They immediately embarked; and after waiting in the bay a few days to give a chance to stragglers to come in, sailed on the 21st, and landed on February 1 at Portsmouth, whence they marched to their old quarters at Hythe barracks.

Meanwhile, the 1st Battalion continued with the force under Sir John Moore; and being in the reserve, under Sir Edward Paget, which formed the rear-guard, besides the almost unparalleled sufferings from hunger, fatigue and exposure to unusually inclement winter weather, were daily engaged with the enemy.

On December 28 the reserve passed the Esla at Castro Gonzalo and fell back on Benevente, and the bridge (as we have seen) was destroyed. During the whole day and night there was sharp skirmishing between the picquets of the Battalion and the enemy, who came up with the rear-guard for the first time on this day.

On the next day the outposts were withdrawn, and the infantry marched; but the cavalry was left in Benevente, with outposts on the bank of the river.

On January 3 the enemy again came up. The Battalion, forming the rear-guard of the reserve, was formed in front of the village of Cacabelos. This place, scarcely more than a hamlet, is situated on the declivity of a high hill, sloping down to a deep stream, a branch or tributary of the Sil, which is crossed by a bridge at the foot of the village street. Two companies (Captains Norcott’s and O’Hare’s) and a small party of the 15th Hussars were detached to cover the retreat of the Battalion. These troops were soon warmly engaged with a very large body of cavalry, advanced by the enemy as a reconnoitring party; but, as this was soon after joined by a still more formidable force, they were directed to retire and follow the Battalion through the village, and to take post on the other side of the river and bridge, situated at the extremity of the street.

During the execution of this movement the enemy’s cavalry pressed forward so rapidly and in such large masses that they compelled the 15th Hussars, who were in rear of the two companies, to retreat at full gallop. And Sir John Moore and his Staff also dashed past. The Riflemen, having opened to let them pass, immediately faced about, and forming across the whole breadth of the street of the village which they had now entered, poured on the enemy’s cavalry such a rapid and well-aimed fire that many saddles were emptied and the pursuit instantly checked. But it was still necessary to go through the village to pass the bridge, and to gain the opposite bank of the river; and this was at length effected, not without great exertion and fatigue, and the loss of about 40 men, killed, wounded, or prisoners.

The Reserve formed in position on a range of heights about five hundred yards from the river, the 95th being advanced as a support to their rear-guard, and in that position awaited the enemy’s attack. He was not long in fording the river to our right and left with a large body of cavalry and about a thousand Voltigeurs, which latter had not until then come up with the retreating army. They had been passed over the river on the horses of the cavalry.

The attack by this infantry began at about four o’clock in the now rapidly approaching evening, on the flanks of the Rifle picquets and on the Battalion of Riflemen formed for their support; and the enemy moved at the same time a large force of cavalry over the bridge on the high road to Villa Franca. After some severe skirmishing both with the picquets and the Battalion, these were obliged to fall back and occupy a more defensible position; and five companies extended behind the banks, and in the vineyards on each side of the road, on which the British cavalry and some guns were posted. Scarcely had this movement been effected when a warm attack was made by the Voltigeurs and cavalry against the Riflemen, the dragoons, and the guns. After an hour’s hard fighting it was found impossible to withstand the superior force of the enemy, and the advanced wing of the Battalion was withdrawn, and joined the other five companies, with the view of following the main body of the Reserve, which had just before been ordered to retire.

It was now nearly dark; and General Colbert, who commanded the enemy’s cavalry, conceiving probably that the Riflemen had retired, and that the English cavalry and guns were unprotected, made a most rapid and furious charge upon them with a mass of cavalry. The Riflemen again instantly threw themselves into the vineyards, and from the banks lining the road poured so hot and well-aimed a fire that the attacking cavalry were instantly checked. It was at this moment that Thomas Plunket, a private of the Battalion, noted for his excellent shooting, crept out with some expression that he ‘would bring that fellow down,’ and throwing himself on his back on the snow-covered ground he caught the sling of his rifle over his foot, fired with deliberate aim, and shot General Colbert dead. His orderly trumpeter rode up to assist him, but Tom Plunket had reloaded, and he also fell before his unerring rifle.[59] He had just time to jump up, and, amidst the cheers of his comrades, by running in upon one of the rear sections, to escape the sabres of a dozen troopers who spurred after him in pursuit.

By the fire of the Riflemen the enemy’s cavalry suffered severely. Besides their General, some two hundred horsemen were killed, wounded, or prisoners.

Night had now fallen, and no further attack was attempted: the Riflemen retained the position till about ten at night, in order to give the rest of the army time to fall back. They then retired, marching all night, a most difficult and fatiguing march, part of it through vineyards, and arrived at Curtro about daybreak.

This most gallant action may be said to have been fought altogether by the 1st Battalion; for no troops assisted them except a few of the 15th Hussars, who, being hard pressed by the enemy, rode through the two rear companies at the first onset, and formed on the rising ground beyond the bridge on the Villa Franca road; and ‘a few of the 52nd,’[60] who, as night fell, appeared on that ridge to their assistance; but Colbert’s final charge had then been checked by the Riflemen. Mr. Moore, in his Life of his brother, says that ‘to arrest the enemy, four hundred Riflemen, with a small detachment of horse, were posted,’ while the Reserve crossed the bridge; but in fact scarce half that number remained on that side of the river. Only two companies (Norcott’s and O’Hare’s) were there posted; and their strength would not have been a hundred men each after the casualties of several days’ march, in weather of unusual severity, and amidst almost unparalleled toils.

The march was resumed in a few hours; the weather was intensely cold, the road rugged and difficult, and the snow knee deep, and the fatigue and exhausted state of the men were extreme; yet amidst all these sufferings the Reserve preserved order, ‘covered the retreat, and protected, as much as lay in their power, the stragglers.’[61]

On the road from Villa Franca to Herrerias the French patrols during the night attacked the Rifle picquets, and wounded a few men; but the Riflemen drove them back, and the enemy did not ascertain that the retreating army had abandoned the position. After a march of eighteen miles the Reserve reached Herrerias on the morning of the 4th. A forced march of thirty-six miles brought them on the 5th to Nogales. Thence they started again, and towards evening of that day, when near Constantino, the enemy came up with them. Moore was with them, and his position was difficult. A river was to be crossed, and a hill overlooking and close to the bridge would, if the enemy should occupy it, give him such an advantage as would render the passage of the Reserve very difficult. Moore posted a battery on the top of the hill, ‘and guarded it, as usual, by the brave Rifle Corps.’[62] They held the enemy in check while the Reserve defiled over the narrow bridge; as soon as they were safely over, the guns were limbered up, and trotted down the hill; the Riflemen followed at the double, and passed the bridge without the loss of a man. The French rushed on in pursuit; but when they reached the bridge the Reserve were in position, and after maintaining the post till nightfall General Paget fell back towards Lugo.

During all this retreat Moore accompanied the Reserve, and rode beside his friend General Paget, their chief. His cheerful demeanour sustained the spirits of the way-worn, suffering soldiers; he praised their superior discipline on the march, and warmly applauded their gallant conduct in action.

The whole of Sir John Moore’s forces were now in position in front of Lugo. On the 6th the French came in sight, and collecting in considerable numbers, took up a position in front of the rear-guard. On the next day the outposts were attacked, and the enemy repulsed. And on the 8th another attack was made, and with a similar result.

On the 9th Sir John Moore drew up his whole force in position, and offered battle. After waiting in line of battle till towards evening, the General ordered the army to retire in the night, the Reserve covering their march. They kept up bright fires to deceive the enemy, and then, in a night of terrific weather, and in drenching showers of rain and sleet, they fell back towards Betanzos. Near this town the enemy came up with them, and attacked them during their passage over a bridge, with some loss.

The sufferings of the Battalion in the next few days were terrible. The men were in a state of starvation; many without shoes, and almost all in rags. The officers were, many of them, barefooted; and some, from hunger and fatigue, so incapable of further exertion that they had to be carried on mules. In this state they arrived, on the 11th, at El Burgo (the main body of the troops having entered Corunna), their discipline unimpaired and their courage undismayed. ‘For twelve days,’ says Napier, ‘these hardy warriors had covered the retreat, during which time they had traversed eighty miles of road in two marches, passed several nights under arms in the snow of the mountains, were seven times engaged with the enemy, and now assembled at the outposts, having fewer men missing, including those who had fallen in battle, than any other division of the army: an admirable instance of the value of good discipline.’

As soon as they had passed the river at El Burgo the bridge was blown up, and two companies of Riflemen, under Major Norcott, were posted in the village; the remainder of the Battalion being, with the Reserve, cantoned upon the high road to Corunna, at a little distance.

The enemy’s cavalry again came in sight on the morning of the 12th, and, after reconnoitring, dismounted a part of their force, and attacked the companies at El Burgo vigorously. This skirmishing continued during the day; but their efforts to drive the Riflemen from the post were ineffectual.

On the 14th, however, this post was withdrawn, as the enemy had forded the river on our left. The Battalion therefore joined the Reserve in the position taken up by the army on the heights about two miles in front of Corunna; while the enemy was employed in concentrating his forces on a very strong range of hills opposite and nearly parallel to the British line, and distant from it about five hundred yards.

The Battalion was advanced, in the course of the morning, about half-a-mile in front of the Reserve, in order to occupy several detached and commanding pieces of ground, on the right of Lord William Bentinck’s brigade, and just opposite a battery of guns on the left of the French position.

The enemy’s troops continued to pour into his position during the whole night. Their bands played, and shouts, plainly heard by the Riflemen, announced their joy at the certainty of a general action on the morrow, and the anticipated destruction or capture of the British army.

On the 16th several movements of cavalry, artillery and infantry were observed in the French lines, and about two o’clock in the afternoon the Riflemen could distinctly see their first line getting under arms on the brow of the hill. The assault was not long in coming. At three o’clock a furious onset of three thousand skirmishers burst upon the whole line of English picquets; which, although at first driven back, rallied under cover of the numerous stone walls which intersected the valley, and kept the enemy in check for a considerable time; particularly at the village of Elvina, which was watched by the brigade under Major-General Coote Manningham.

The enemy finding his first efforts to drive in our picquets unavailing, reinforced his first line with several battalions, and compelled them to fall back to their respective brigades. The action immediately became general, and the attacks particularly severe from the Corunna road to the extreme British right (comprising about half the English forces). It was evidently Soult’s great object to turn the right, whilst on the left and left centre the attack was not pushed with much energy, and was intended only as a feint. Lord William Bentinck’s brigade was so roughly handled about five o’clock, and was losing so many men by the fire of the enemy’s guns on our right (by which Sir John Moore fell at this time), that Colonel Beckwith pushed on with the whole Battalion; and dashing into the very midst of the enemy’s artillery, would inevitably have captured or destroyed them in a few minutes, had not two battalions of Voltigeurs moved out so rapidly from the second line to their assistance, that the Riflemen were obliged to fall back for the moment. They were checked, not quelled; a sharp skirmish, kept up for two hours between the Riflemen and the Voltigeurs, ended in the complete repulse of the latter, with considerable loss, leaving seven officers and one hundred and fifty-six men prisoners in the hands of their opponents, whom the Battalion took on ship-board and brought to England.

By this time the enemy had been completely defeated at all points, and retired to his position.

The troops embarked during the night. The 1st Battalion of the 95th was the last corps that entered the gates of Corunna, having acted as the rear-guard; and scarcely had it reached its ship, when the enemy made his appearance, with several guns, on the heights commanding the bay, from which he fired on all the vessels within range. The fleet, however, was soon under sail, and arrived at Spithead on the 21st. The Battalion was landed and marched to Hythe.

I have reserved till now the details of its losses during that memorable retreat.

At Cacabelos, on January 3, 2 sergeants and 17 rank and file were killed; and Captain Bennett, who died of his wounds on the 11th, and Lieutenant Eeles were wounded; and on that occasion 4 sergeants and 44 rank and file were taken prisoners. In the skirmish on the 5th, 1 man was killed and 1 man also on the 10th. One sergeant, 1 bugler, and 13 rank and file died of want, sickness, or fatigue during the retreat; and 31 men, wounded or exhausted, fell into the enemy’s hands. In the final fight before Corunna on the 16th, Lieutenant Charles Noble, 1 sergeant, and 10 rank and file were killed, and 8 rank and file were taken prisoners. Thus the total loss of the Battalion in twenty days was 2 officers, 8 sergeants, 1 bugler, and 125 rank and file dead, or prisoners in the hands of the enemy. Lieutenant Eeles, 1 sergeant, and 33 rank and file wounded disembarked in England.

But the condition of the survivors and unwounded was deplorable. The appearance of the Battalion was squalid and miserable. Most of the men had lost some of their appointments; many were without shoes; and their clothing was not only tattered and in rags, but in such a state of filth and so infested with vermin, that on new clothing being served out it was burnt at the back of Hythe barracks.

Among the losses of the Regiment consequent on the retreat to Corunna, not the least conspicuous was that of their first Colonel, Major-General Coote Manningham, who died at Maidstone on August 26, 1809, in his forty-fourth year. A short sketch of the life of one who may be called the originator of the Regiment, may well be given in this place. He was the second son of Charles Manningham,[63] Esq., of Thorp, in Surrey, who was Governor of Bengal in 1758, by the daughter of Colonel Charles Hutchinson, Governor of St. Helena, through whom he was nearly related to two distinguished Generals, Sir Robert Boyd and Sir Eyre Coote, who had married her sisters. Under the former, and in his Regiment, the 39th, his services commenced at the siege of Gibraltar. On the breaking out of the war of 1793, Manningham, then a Major in the 45th, was appointed to a light infantry battalion, formed in the West India Islands, in order to join Sir Charles Grey, on his coming out to attack the French West India possessions. With it he took part in the reduction of Martinique, St. Lucia, and Guadaloupe. He soon after became Lieutenant-Colonel of the 41st, and in 1795 was appointed Adjutant-General to the force under General Forbes at St. Domingo. While on this service he was severely wounded by an ambuscade of the enemy. On or soon after his return to England he was, in 1798, appointed Aide-de-Camp to King George III., with the rank of Colonel, and soon after one of His Majesty’s Equerries. He was promoted a Major-General in 1805; and after serving some time on the home staff, he was appointed to command a brigade in the division which went out with Sir David Baird in 1808. On the junction of this force with that under Sir John Moore, he had a brigade under Moore, and took part in the retreat; and, as we have seen, held the position of Elvina in the final action at Corunna. The fatigues and sufferings he had undergone during this campaign, acting on a constitution impaired by service and by wounds in the West Indies, brought on, soon after his return to England, an illness from which he never rallied. He is buried at Little Bookham,[64] in Surrey, where this inscription to his memory remains:

A monument to his memory was also erected in the North Transept of Westminster Abbey, by his friend Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Hislop, in 1813; which records that ‘In him the man and the Christian tempered the warrior;’ and that ‘He was the model of a British soldier.’

His only surviving child married Sir Edward Buller, Bart., and more than one of her sons has served with distinction in the Regiment, in which they may be said to bear the honourable distinction of ‘founder’s kin.’