[799] Why does Belmas, who was very well informed, and used Jones’s book, call the stormers ‘les Anglais’ and say that they lost 150 men? (Sièges, iv. p. 608). He knew from Jones that they were Caçadores only (Jones, ii. p. 21), and that their loss was under 70.
[800] Right column, to attack the cemetery and fortified houses—150 of 5th Caçadores, 150 13th Portuguese Line, three companies 1/9th Foot, three companies 3/1st Foot (Royal Scots) all under Hay, Brigadier of the 5th Division. Left column: 200 of 5th Caçadores, 200 of 13th Portuguese Line, three companies 1/9th Foot—all under Bradford commanding Portuguese independent brigade. Why did not Oswald use his own Portuguese brigade, but draw on Bradford? Possibly because Spry’s brigade were discouraged by the failure of their Caçador battalion on the 15th.
[801] Generally in British narratives called the Cask Redoubt, because wine casks had been used to revet the shifting sand of which the soil was there composed.
[802] Batteries 8 and 7 in the map.
[803] Batteries 13 and 14 in the map.
[804] Batteries 12 and 11 in the map.
[805] No. 6 in the map.
[806] There is a curious contradiction between Jones and Belmas as to the fate of the Cask Redoubt. The latter says that the British took it—the former that the garrison abandoned it, though not attacked.
[807] ‘From the looseness of the sand in which the battery was constructed, it was found impossible to keep the soles of the embrasures sufficiently clear to use the three short 24-pounders mounted on ship carriages—after a few rounds they had to cease firing.’ Jones, ii. p. 28.
[808] Burgoyne’s Life and Correspondence, i. p. 267.