A British Rifle Man. Simmons George
their names. Certain Spanish names, the spelling of which, although notoriously wrong, has been consecrated by usage, have been retained in the form most familiar to Englishmen.
No little difficulty was experienced in locating many of the places mentioned by Simmons, whose rendering of Spanish names was at times very erratic. This, however, is excusable when it is remembered that the whole British army, from the Duke downwards, habitually ignored the most elementary rules of orthography in the Spanish language. Sir William Napier himself was one of the greatest offenders in this way. To this day about half a dozen of the names of great battles in Spain and Portugal worn as "Honours" by regiments on their Colours are incorrectly spelt!
No two atlases agree as to Spanish spelling, but I was fortunate in obtaining a very fair Spanish map, entitled "Mapa Civil y Militar de España y Portugal," by Dauty and Malo, published in 1857, which I have taken as the basis of the rough sketch maps which illustrate these pages.
Even this, however, is at places difficult to follow nowadays, owing to changes in names of places. Thus the town at the junction of the rivers Tagus and Zezere known as "Punhete" in 1809, and shown as such in 1857, is marked as "Constançia" in more modern atlases.
A very clear map of the Peninsula, published in 1810 in London (which no doubt was largely used during the subsequent campaigns), is so utterly at variance with this Spanish map, not only in the spelling of names, but also in the position of towns and the course of rivers, that it is practically useless.
A word of explanation as to the title. When the Corps was first raised, Riflemen—being at the time a novelty—were styled Rifle Men. In one of the earliest "Clothing Warrants" of the regiment they are described as "the Regiment of Rifle Men."
George Simmons in his journals and letters adopted this form of spelling, and hence it has been retained as characteristic of the fashion of that period.
Willoughby Verner,
Lieut.-Colonel.
Royal Military College,
Sandhurst, March 1899.
A British Rifle Man
COMMENCEMENT OF THE PENINSULAR WAR
CAMPAIGN OF 1808
The Peninsular War commenced in the year 1808, on 1st August of which year Major-General Sir Arthur Wellesley disembarked at Mondego Bay and marched on Lisbon, at that time occupied by a French army under Marshal Junot. The latter sent General Laborde with a Division to oppose Wellesley's advance, and on 15th August the first skirmish took place at Obidos. On this occasion the 95th Rifles had an officer killed (Lieut. Bunbury), the first British officer who fell in the Peninsular War. On 17th August, Wellesley defeated Laborde at the battle of Roliça, and four days later he met and defeated Junot at the battle of Vimeiro. Then followed the Convention of Cintra, under the terms of which Junot was permitted to embark his army of 25,000 men at Lisbon and the French evacuated Portugal.
The British Government now sent out strong reinforcements to the Peninsula, and appointed Sir John Moore to the chief command. Moore's forces concentrated in the vicinity of Salamanca, and then advanced to engage Soult, who was holding the line of the Carrion river. Meanwhile the Spanish armies had been defeated at all points, and the French army, commanded by Napoleon in person and numbering over 100,000 men, was set at liberty to attack Moore, whose forces only amounted to 25,000 men. In spite of these appalling odds, Moore conducted an admirable retreat, and at Rueda, Sahagun, Benavente, and Mayorga his cavalry obtained brilliant successes over the French.
On 1st January 1809 Napoleon entered Astorga, only to find that he was too late to destroy the English army, which had evaded his blow and was in retreat on Vigo and Coruña. Leaving Soult to continue the pursuit, the Emperor now returned to France.
Moore carried out his retirement in a masterly manner; at Caçabelos, Constantin, and Lugo he checked his pursuers and inflicted heavy losses on their advancing columns. The retreat terminated with the battle of Coruña, fought on 16th January 1809, when the gallant Moore was killed, but not before he had heavily defeated the French and thus secured the embarkation of his forces.
CAMPAIGN OF 1809
The French army in Spain was ordered by Napoleon to reoccupy Portugal, and Marshal Soult was directed to march, via Oporto, on Lisbon, Marshal Ney to hold Galicia, and Marshal Victor to invade Portugal south of the Tagus.
The British Government sent out Sir Arthur Wellesley to Portugal with strong reinforcements. Wellesley marched on Oporto and seized the passage of the Douro on 12th May, and drove Soult back into Galicia. Victor meanwhile had reached Talavera de la Reyna on the Tagus, and was supported by King Joseph and Marshal Jourdan.
Wellesley now advanced and joined the Spanish General Cuesta near Talavera. Victor thereupon fell back, and, Cuesta following him up alone, was severely handled by King Joseph and driven back behind the Alberche river.
The French army, under King Joseph with Jourdan and Victor, now advanced and crossed the Alberche, and, after several sharp combats, the battle of Talavera was fought on 28th July. After a desperate struggle, the French were finally driven back at all points, and early on the following morning retired across the Alberche.
On the same day, the Light Division under General Craufurd, consisting of the 43rd and 52nd Light Infantry and the 1st Battalion 95th Rifles, reached the field and immediately took up the outposts. This Division, after a march of 20 miles, was in bivouac at Malpartida, when Craufurd received a report that the British were hard pressed at Talavera. He at once started "with a resolution not to halt until he reached the field of battle. … The troops pressed on with impetuous speed, and, leaving only seventeen stragglers behind, in twenty-six hours crossed the field of battle, a strong compact body, having during that time marched 62 English miles in the hottest season of the year, each man carrying from fifty to sixty pounds weight."[4]
Soult being joined by Ney, Mortier, and Kellermann, now moved against Wellesley's line of communications, and the latter, leaving Cuesta to watch King Joseph on the Alberche, marched to oppose him. Cuesta, however, abandoned his post and fell back on Wellesley, closely pursued by Victor. At the same time the English General learned that Soult, having received reinforcements, had now a force of over 53,000 as against his 17,000 British troops; and he was in consequence forced to recross the Tagus at Puente del Arzobispo and retire on Portugal.
Thus ended the campaign of 1809, during which the British losses amounted to over 3500; and, owing to the hopeless conduct of both the Spanish Government and the Spanish generals, all the advantages which should have accrued to the British, from the successful operations on the Douro in May and the victory of Talavera in July, were rendered nugatory, and the French, in the words of Napier, were left with "all the credit of the campaign."
CHAPTER I
Letter No. I
To his Parents, from Hythe and Dover, dated 21st May 1809
Announces the embarkation of the 1st Battalion 95th Rifles—Colonel Sibthorp endeavours to dissuade him from going out, but fails.
Journal—25th May-17th July 1809
Embarkation at Dover, the voyage out, landing at Lisbon—The Rifles are posted to Major-General Craufurd's Brigade, and march to join Sir Arthur Wellesley, who is moving against Marshal Victor on the line of the Tagus—Halt at Castello Branco.
Letter No. II
To his Parents, from Castello Branco, dated