That Lord Wellington undertook this siege with wholly inadequate means has been well known; but how inadequate these means were will appear from the following statement. First, as regards personnel: how many Artillerymen had he to carry on the duties in the batteries against a place which held a commanding situation, and was powerfully armed? He had merely
| No. of men. | |
|---|---|
| Capt. Glubb’s company, under Capt. Power | 45 |
| Lieut.-Col. May’s company under Lieut. Elgee | 45 |
| Major Arriaga’s company of Portuguese Artillery | 57 |
| Total | 147 |
As mentioned above, he had only eight guns; and the following was the total ammunition of all sorts, including the additional supply from Ciudad Rodrigo.
| 24-pr. round shot | 900 |
| 24-pr. common shell | 208 |
| 24-pr. spherical case | 236 |
| 18-pr. round shot | 1306 |
| 18-pr. spherical case | 100 |
To swell this amount, Colonel Dickson offered a reward for bringing in any shot fired by the enemy. He found that the enemy’s 16-pounder shot fitted his own 18-pounder guns, and that his 8-pounder shot would fit the 9-pounders of the English field brigades. Before the end of September, about 1400 shot were brought in, in this way. Colonel Dickson also obtained detachments from the Horse and Field Brigades occasionally, to give his siege artillerymen relief; but the duties of the Field Artillery were so active at this time round Burgos that men could with difficulty be spared.
The names of the officers of the Royal Artillery engaged in the siege were as follows:—
Lieutenant-Colonel Robe, commanding.
Lieutenant-Colonel Dickson, in immediate charge of the operation.
| Captain Power | Present during the whole operation. | Captain Greene | Belonging to Field Brigades, but occasionally employed. |
| Lieutenant Robe | Captain Dansey | ||
| Lieutenant Pascoe | Captain Gardiner | ||
| Lieutenant Elgee | Lieutenant Monro | ||
| Lieutenant Hough | Lieut. Johnstone |
Captain Blachley, joined 1st October.