French Attack—Plan of Desertion—Excesses of the French—A Basque Witness—Sir John Hope—Movements of the Army—Sale of Effects—Wellington’s Simplicity of Character—A French Emigré—Return of Soult to Bayonne.
Head-quarters, St. Jean de Luz,
December 14, 1813.
My dear M——,
As every one is still in the front, and I have now but a few letters to write on business, I shall proceed in writing to you, and, if possible, send this by the delayed packet. Yesterday morning, the French were, I believe, to have been attacked again in our front, in order to drive them back into Bayonne. In the morning, however, they were off, and had disappeared from the disputed ground, and only appeared in the Bayonne works. This made us suspect an attack from them on General Hill, who was on our right, with only some Portuguese, and his two divisions on the other side of the Nive. Reinforcements were ordered accordingly, and all the grandees and amateurs went that way. So it turned out; the French came in large masses and attacked us there, just as we were moving about in our position.
At first they drove the Portuguese brigade there back from a knoll. They rallied, however, returned, and recovered it. By that time the rest of the two divisions were up ready, and the French came on in more force. The attack now became general along the line, and the French were beaten back on all sides with very considerable loss, and without the reinforcements, which were not in time. I know no particulars at all, for Lord Wellington did not return last night to this place; but some who did, say that the French were very thick, as they came forward in such masses, and some of their own disheartened prisoners talk of four thousand men and more as their loss. These daily desperate attacks, first on their right and then on their left, and the accounts given by the German Nassau officers, make me suspect very much that Soult will after this be off altogether further to the rear after having obeyed his order, by a desperate attempt to drive us back into Spain again. I hear that he wrote to Lord Wellington before these five days’ fighting, to say that we must positively quit France, and that, to save bloodshed, he wished Lord Wellington would retire of his own accord. I did not learn this, however, from the very best authority.
The day before yesterday I met at dinner the Major of the Nassau regiment, a very pleasant gentleman-like man, aide-de-camp to the Prince, and the very officer who brought the secret verbal orders to the Colonel K—— to take the steps he has done. The Major arrived six weeks ago, but they never found the opportunity until now. Similar orders are gone to another battalion with Marshal Suchet, and to a corps of Nassau cavalry there, and we have sent word to our army on that side to endeavour to let them know that these three battalions have succeeded. The whole was very near failing even this time: he gave us all the particulars.
The French towards evening thought things were not going on quite well, and ordered up all the reserves. Amongst the rest were three battalions, and that of Baden, which lately had been kept much in the rear. When they were all retiring towards their quarters again at dusk, General Villette (Colonel Downie’s old enemy), who commanded the reserve, was obliged to retire to the rear being wounded. He left orders with a stupid old General who succeeded him in command. The Colonel of the Nassau regiment was directed by the old man to retire along the great road. He represented the numbers going that way and the delay, and proposed a side road. The old man said, “Well, you will do your best.” The Colonel then thought all would do, and was about to march off, when up came the 34th regiment, all French, and their commanding officer said, “Monsieur le Colonel, j’ai mes ordres de vous suivre sur votre route.” This was most perplexing. The Colonel then made an imaginary obstacle at the head of the column, and desired the men to file one by one slowly. This tired the patience of the French, who had been out all day. The Colonel then proposed his plan to the officer commanding the Baden regiment. To which he replied, that he had received no orders from his Sovereign, and, after hesitating a little, declined. Colonel K—— then ordered him to take another road, and told the French, as they must divide to get home at all, they had better follow the Baden regiment. The French 34th did so; and the others soon began to incline towards the English, firing away, however, but in the air, to deceive any who might be observing them. They soon found themselves near enough to send in the officer first, and the regiment followed in spite of some shots from our people. The astonishment of many, who not being in the secret, found themselves within the English picket, and fancied they were all about to be made prisoners, was very considerable; and their joy was as great when they were told the true state of things.
The Major told us that they had seen constant service in Spain, that their Sovereign’s contingent for Spain was about two thousand men, but that the French kept it up whenever they could to nearly three thousand, and more at times. He was at Talavera, and the bugle of one of the battalions which sounded as they left, and marched through, was English, and I understand was taken from us at the battle of Talavera. He confessed the horrors committed in Spain was “Nous autres” (as he was constantly expressing himself), forgetting that he was no longer French, and then correcting himself, said, “par les Français.” He said that it was a practice when the orders were issued to plunder and burn places which had been deserted by their inhabitants, to make a great fire near the place so as to make the inhabitants think a battle was about to begin, and lead them to retire to some spot near, out of the way of the fire, but never intending to desert their homes. The troops then voted it a deserted town, and begun first to pillage, then to burn. He described the French army as being now about fifty-five thousand men, after this affair, of which, however, only about twenty-two or twenty-three thousands were soldiers, that is veterans; the rest raw recruits and conscripts, of which Bayonne was full; and there you might now see, he said, even the blind and the lame compelled to come forward and serve.
He said they were ill supplied with everything, and had no forage at all; that one great store of biscuit was spoilt in the church at Bayonne; and that the roads in the rear were so bad that hardly any supplies could arrive but by the river—at least not without the greatest difficulty and labour; that the Dax and Tartas roads were infamous, and the one I went by, Peyrorade and Orthes, very bad. Allowance must be made, I think, in regard to these accounts.
Soult was enraged with the inhabitants for wishing to return home within our lines, and was much provoked at our not having behaved much worse in this country. I have also understood from officers who went with flags-of-truce, that the French are excessively angry with their women for all desiring to come here to us. The Mayor of Biaritz, I believe, is denounced, having given us assistance, and ordered to be seized as soon as discovered. The French were two or three days since in one attack actually in his garden, but could never get into his house. Of course he had removed many of his goods, and was on the alert. He has had a picket always in his house, and been very liberal. Near that house our guns and the French were within three hundred yards of each other, but neither could get at the opponent on account of the formation of the ground. There was a small wood in the neighbourhood, which was a strong point. Lord Wellington, &c., have just returned. I must go and pick up news.