Anecdotes of General Le Marchant. vance; and Brigadier-General Pack at the same time made a very gallant attack upon the Arapiles, in which, however, he did not succeed, excepting in diverting the attention of the enemy's corps placed upon it from the troops under the command of General Cole in his advance. The cavalry, under Sir Stapleton Cotton, now made a most gallant and successful charge against a body of the enemy's infantry which they completely overthrew and cut to pieces; but in this charge the gallant Major-General Le Marchant was killed at the head of his brigade.* After the crest of the height was carried, one division of the enemy's infantry made a stand against the 4th division, which, after a severe contest, was obliged to give way, in consequence of the enemy having **The gallant Le Marchant was a native of Guernsey; and, having embraced the military profession at an early period of life, served principally in the cavalry, being always considered as an officer of great activity, and strictly attentive to all the duties connected with his profession. In addition to his personal gallantry, he is particularly noticeable for the great improvements he brought forward in the army with respect to the sword exercise, and also in digesting the system published for the cavalry in 1796 from the War-Office. But his pubHe spirit and perseverance were the most conspicuous from the share he bad in the framing and institution of the Royal Military College; a public seminary founded on a plan similar to that of the academy at Woolwich, but more extensively applicable to the education of every rank and description of army officers. As a reward for his skill and perseverance, he was appointed Lientenant-Governor, and held that office for some years with credit to himself, and advantage to the institution; but the last promotion previous to his joining the army in Portugal having given him a rank in compatible with the situation, he was once more engaged in active service. He had been but a short time in Portugal when he received the afflicting intelligence of the death of his amiable consort, whom he had been obliged to leave in a state of pregnancy. His grief at so melancholy an event was now only to be soothed by the bustle of an active campaign and there he fell-leaving a large family unprotected, but who have all been handsomely provided for by the benevolent patronage of the Prince Regent, and the generous gratitude of an applauding country. Anecdotes of the battle. having thrown some troops on the left of the 4th after the failure of General Pack's attack upon the Arapiles; and at this moment the Honourable General Cole was wounded. But at this critical moment Marshal Sir William Beresford being on the spot he immediately directed General Spray's brigade of the 5th division, which was in the 2d line, to change its front, and to bring its fire on the flank of the enemy's division; and whilst engaged in this service he received a severe wound, which, for a long time afterwards, deprived the service of his active exertions. Nearly about the same time too Lieutenant-General Leith received a wound which unfortunately obliged him to quit the field; on which Lord Wellington, whose eye was every where, immediately ordered up the 6th division, under Major-General Clinton, to relieve the 4th, and the battle was soon restored to its former success. The enemy's right, however, reinforced by the troops which had fled from his left, and by those which had now retired from the Arapiles, still continued to resist; on which Lord Wellington ordered the 1st and light divisions, and Colonel Stubb's Portuguese brigade of the 4th divison, which was reformed, and General Anson's brigade, to turn the right, whilst the 6th division, supported by the 3d and 5th attacked the front.* It *Nothing can more illustrate the gallantry of the Commander-inChief than the various anecdotes of the battle contained in different letters from the army: but to insert even the tenth part of them would far exceed our limits. Clear as was his conception, and judicious as was his plan, nothing could be more concise than his orders;-to General Leith, who was ordered to the attack of the hill, he had only time to say, "Push on, and drive them to the Devil :"-and when the business was over, and the different officers came round his Lordship to congratulate him previous to his pursuit, he only smiled, and said, "Marmont has forced me to lick him!" Indeed, it is evident that his Lordship would not have commenced 7 Pursuit of the Enemy. It was dark before this point was carried by the 6th division, and the enemy fled through the woods towards the Tormes. His Lordship immediately pursued them with the 1st and light divisions, and General Anson's brigade, and some squadrons of cavalry, under Sir Stapleton Cotton, as long as he could find any of them together, directing his pursuit upon Huerta, and the fords of the 'Tormes, by which the enemy had passed in their advance but the darkness of the night was highly advantageous to the enemy, many of whom escaped under its cover who would otherwise have been made prisoners.* Lord Wellington, with his gallant comrades, renewed the pursuit at break of day, and Bock's and Anson's brigades of cavalry, having come up in the night, and having crossed the Tormes, the pursuers were eneabled to come up with the enemy's rear-guard of cavalry and infantry, near Le Serna; when they were immediately attacked by the two brigades of dragoons, and the cavalry fled, leaving the infantry to their fate. On this occasion, his Lordship observed, that he had never witnessed a more gallant charge than was now made on the enemy's infantry, the whole of which, three battalions, were made prisoners. The pursuit was continued until the evening of the 23d as far as Peneranza; whilst the scattered remains of Marmont's army passed through Flores de Avelin, and afterwards by Arevalo towards Valladolid, where they were joined by the cavalry and artillery of the army of the north, but too late to retrieve their broken fortunes. It was difficult to ascertain exactly the enemy's loss commenced the action even then, if it had not been for Marmont's blunder in extending his line, and thereby affording his lordship, as he himself observed, the opportunity he had so anxiously wished for. It was, in fact, a military game of draughts! * Owing to this darkness it unfortunately happened that Sir Stapleton Cotton was wounded by one of the British sentinels, after the army nad halted. 1 French report of the battle. loss in this brilliant action; but the acknowledgment which has since been made by Marmont himself* 21. renders 3 P * The plain and modest account of this decisive and gallant action, from the pen of the Marquis of Wellington, certainly requires no comment; yet so much justice, though unwillingly, has been done to his gallantry and skill, by the narrative of his rival, that we subjoin that account, in order to preserve and hand it down to posterity, as that document alone his sufficient to form the basis of his future fame. Report of Marshal the Duke of Ragusa, to the Minister at War...... "Tudela, July 31. "Monsieur,―The interruption of the communications with France, since the opening of the campaign, having prevented me from giving you the successive accounts of the events which have passed, I shall commence this report from the moment at which the English began operations ; and I am going to have the honour to place before you, in detail; all. the movements which have been exeuted, to the unhappy event that has just taken place, and which we were far from expecting. * In the month of May I was informed the English army would open the campaign with very powerful means; I informed the King of it, in order that he might adopt such dispositions as he thought proper; and I likewise acquainted General Caffarilla with it, that he might take measures for sending me succours when the moment should have arrived. "The extreme difficulty in procuring subsistence, the impossibility of provisioning the troops, when assembled, prevented me from having more than eight or nine battalions in Salamanca ; but all were in readiness to join me in a few days. "On the 12th of June, the enemy's army passed the Agueda; on the 14th, in the morning, I was informed of it; and the orders for asseinbling was given to the troops. On the 16th, the English army arrived before Salamanca. "In the night between the 16th and 17th I evacuated that town, leavi ing nevertheless a garrison in the forts I had constructed; and which, by the extreme activity used in their construction, were in a state of defence. I marched six leagues from Salamanca; and there, having collected five divisions, I approached that town ; I drove before me the English advanced posts, and obliged the enemy's army to shew what attitude it reckoned upon taking; it appeared determined to fight upon the fine rising ground, and strong position, San Christoval. The re mainder of the army joined me; I manœuvred round that position, but I acquired the certainty that it every where presented obstacles difficult to be conquered, and that it was better to force the enemy to come upon another field of battle, than enter into action with them upon ground which gave them too many advantages; besides, different reasons made me desire to prolong the operations, for I had just re Freneh manœuvres. renders it highly probable, that the estimate of 7000prisoners was not too much, as he acknowledged. 6000 ceived a letter from General Caffarilli, which announced to me, that he had collected his troops, and was going to march to succour me, whilst my presence would have suspended the siege of the fort of Salamanca. Things remained in this state for some days, and the armies in presence of each other; when the iege of the fort of Salamanca was vigorously recommenced. "On account of the trifling distance which there was between the French army and the place, and by means of the signals agreed upon, I was every day informed of the situation of the place. Those of the 26th and 97th informed me the fort could still hold out five days; then I decided to execute the passage of the Tormes, and act upon the Jeft bank. The fort of Alba, which I had carefully preserved, gave me a passage over that river, a new line of operations, and an important point of support. I made dispositions for executing this passage on the night between the 28th and 29th. "During the night of the 27th the fire redoubled; and the enemy, fatigued with a resistance which to them appeared exaggerated, fired red-hot balls upon the fort. Unfortunately its magazines contained a large quantity of wood; it took fire, and in an instant the fort was a vast fire. It was impossible for the brave garrison, who defended it, to support at the same time the enemy's attacks, and the fire which destroyed the defences, magazines, and provisions, and placed the soldiers themselves in the most dreadful situation. It was then obliged to surrender at discretion, after having had the honour of repulsing two assaults, and causing the enemy a loss of more than 1,300 men, viz, double their own force. This event happened on the 28th, at noon. 2 "The enemy, having no farther object in his operations beyond the Tormes: and, on the other hand, every thing indicating that it would be prudent to await the reinforcements announced in a formal manner by the Army of the North, I decided on re-approaching the army of the Douro, secure of passing that river in case the enemy should march towards us, and there to take up a good line of defence, until such time as the moment for acting on the offensive should appear. "On the 28th the army departed, and took a position on the Gu arena: on the 29th, on the Trabunjos where it sojourned. The enemy having followed the movements with the whole of his forces, the army took a position on the Zapardiel; and on the 2nd it passed the Douro at Tordesillas, a place which I chose for the pivot of my motions, The line of the Douro is excellent; I made in detail every disposition which might render sure a good defence of this river; and I had no cause to doubt my being able to defeat every enterprise of the enemy, in case they should attempt the passage. The 3rd, being the day after that on which we passed the Douro, he |