The army commenced its advance on the 13th May, 1813, in three columns. The second division, commanded by General Hill, formed the right, which was destined to advance along the line of the Tagus. The centre column, consisting of the fourth, sixth, seventh, and light divisions, under the immediate command of Lord Wellington, to advance by Salamanca. The left, consisting of the first, third, and fifth divisions, under the command of General Graham, to advance direct through Portugal, taking the line of Benevente for Burgos, and to be supported on the left by the Gallician army. The centre column came up with the French on the 26th May, and in a skirmish with their rear guard, took two hundred prisoners. A junction was here formed with General Hill, extending the line from the Tormes to the Douro. The left, to which our division belonged, passed the Elsa at Miranda de Douro on the 31st May, Lord Wellington being present, and advanced upon Zamora, when the French fell back upon Toro. Passing Valladolid, we continued our march upon Burgos, which the enemy evacuated on the 13th of June, having first blown up the works; thirty of the garrison perished by the explosion. The retreat of the French had been so rapid during this time, that our marches were often very severe, which, together with the heat of the weather, and occasional scarcity of water, caused many to get fatigued, and unable to keep up with their regiment. Here again the conduct of Colonel Lloyd was remarkable. By every means in his power he encouraged and assisted those who were weakly, taking their knapsacks from them and carrying them on his own horse; sometimes having half a dozen on it, and a man sitting above all, while he walked on foot at the head of his regiment, in the most difficult parts of the road—at the same time, inducing the other officers to follow his example. Often when he saw an individual failing, through want of strength, he has taken off his liquor flask and given it to the poor fellow to drink, saying, ‘Don’t let your spirits down, my man; you will soon get strength, and be able to keep up with the best of them; none of them shall have to say that you fell to the rear.’
He had a most extensive and thorough knowledge of his profession, added to an acquaintance with most of the European languages. When he came into camp he was never a moment idle, either reconnoitreing the enemy’s position, or drawing charts of the roads, &c. He scarcely allowed himself to rest, and was always up an hour or two before the bugle sounded; but he would never allow the men to be disturbed before the proper time. ‘No,’ said he, ‘let the poor fellows get all the rest they can.’ But then he expected them to be alert; officers and men, without distinction, were obliged to be in their respective places at once without delay—all his motions were double-quick—and he detested nothing so much as laziness.
General Picton, who had joined from England a considerable time before, again commanded the division. To judge from appearance, no one would have suspected him of humour; yet he often indulged in it: his wit was generally, however, of the satirical kind. On this advance, a man belonging to one of the regiments of the brigade who was remarkable for his mean, pilfering disposition, had on some pretence lingered behind his regiment when they marched out to the assembling ground, and was prowling about from one house to another in search of plunder. General Picton, who was passing through, happened to cast his eye upon him, and called out, ‘What are you doing there, sir? Why are you behind your regiment?’ The man, who did not expect to see the general in the village, had not an answer very ready, but he stammered out an excuse, saying, ‘I came back to the house where I was quartered to look for my gallowses,’ (braces.) ‘Ay, I see how it is,’ replied the general; ‘get along, sir, to your division, and take my advice—always keep the word gallows in your mind.’
Having crossed the Ebro on the 16th, Lord Wellington took up his quarters a few leagues from Vittoria; and on the 19th we came up with the French, who had taken a position in front of that town, their left posted on a range of heights. Our army having closed up on the 20th, on the morning of the 21st, General Hill’s division commenced the battle, by attacking their left on the heights of Puebla, and succeeded, after a most desperate and sanguinary contest, in gaining possession of them. When we descended the hill towards the river, the second division was warmly engaged, and the French commenced cannonading us from a small white village in front of Vittoria, where they had part of their army stationed. There was a brigade of our guns directing their fire towards this place when we were crossing the river along with the seventh division. Our attention was drawn to a young artillery officer who was with them, and who seemed to be very much frightened; for every time that either our own or the French guns fired, he ducked to the ground. Some of the men felt inclined to make game of him; but it only showed that fighting needs practice before people can take things easy. It is likely that it was the first time he had been engaged, and I have no doubt but he would eventually get the better of that custom. Those who have not known it by experience, can form no idea of the indifference with which our soldiers entered a battle after being some time in the Peninsula. As an instance of this, we were at one time lying opposite to the enemy, in daily expectation of being engaged. One of our men, (a Highlandman,) having lost the small piece of ornamented leather which is worn in front of the uniform cap, on taking off his hat for some purpose, the deficiency caught his eye, and, looking at it for a few moments, he said, very seriously, ‘I wish to God there may be an engagement to-day, till I get a rosette for my cap.’
After crossing the river, our division advanced in two lines upon the village where their artillery were posted under a tremendous fire, and succeeded, after an obstinate resistance, in dislodging them. The fourth and light divisions having also crossed the river, advanced upon the enemy’s centre. The French had made sure of defeating us at this point; and it was said that Joseph Buonaparte had erected a buttress on one of the spires, for the purpose of seeing them drive us back. But he was doomed to a severe disappointment; for the second division having succeeded in driving the French off the heights, they commenced their retreat on the Burgos road, but were intercepted by General Graham, with the left of our army; and after losing several villages in succession, which they warmly contested, they were at length compelled to abandon the main road to France, (Joseph himself narrowly escaping,) and take the road to Pampeluna, followed in pursuit by the whole army; and such was their haste, that they were obliged to abandon all their baggage and guns, with the exception of one gun and one howitzer. One hundred and fifty-one cannon, four hundred and fifteen ammunition waggons, one hundred other waggons, fourteen thousand rounds of ammunition, two million ball cartridges, and forty thousand pounds of powder, with the baggage and treasury waggons, said to be worth £630,000, fell into our hands.
The enemy lost ten thousand killed and wounded, and one thousand nine hundred prisoners. The loss on our side amounted to about three thousand killed and wounded.
When we reached the town, passing to the left of it, we found their baggage to the right of the road, lying in the greatest confusion. The columns passed on, but some of the stragglers who fell out got immense sums of money out of the treasury waggons. Few of them were much the better of it, however. I knew one man who got to the amount of £2000 here, who was going without shoes before we left the country. We passed on some distance beyond Vittoria, and encamped; but many of the men returned that night to the baggage, and got money and valuables of every description. The camp that night and next day was like a fair; and the dollars and doubloons were flying about in every direction.
The wounded were left in Vittoria, among whom was a Captain G—— of ours, who subsequently lost his life in a melancholy manner. During his stay in Vittoria, while recovering from his wounds, he had become acquainted with a young lady, and, it was said, had seduced her. Her brother who was an officer in the Spanish army, having learned the circumstance, vowed revenge; and one night, when on guard, he took some of his men with him armed, and forced his way into Captain G——’s quarters, who was undressing himself to go to bed. Hearing a noise, he seized his sword, and coming out into the passage, he was attacked by the Spaniards; but so well did he defend himself, that they were fairly beaten out of the house, and the door shut upon them. They had not been long gone, however, when they returned, and endeavoured to gain entrance. Captain G—— had again left his apartment to see what was the matter, and was standing in the passage with his sword in his hand, when they burst open the door, fired a volley at him, and made their escape. One of the shots took effect, and he fell, mortally wounded. We were very sorry for him, for he was an excellent officer; and however he might have been to blame otherwise, the base manner in which he was assassinated excited the indignation of the whole army. I never learned whether any investigation took place, or any justice was rendered by the Spanish government.
The rear of the French army entered Pampeluna on the 24th, having previously lost their gun; and out of their whole artillery, they had now only left one solitary howitzer. Never was an army so discomfited. They were so confident of success, that they had made no provision for a retreat.
Having left a garrison in Pampeluna, they proceeded to retreat by the road of Roncesvalles, and we invested Pampeluna on the 26th. We were in camp for a day or two here; and during that time, a party of our regiment relieved a Spanish picquet on a hill above our encampment. It had rained during the night, and the picquet’s arms, which were piled in front of the tent, had got a little rusty. Being fatigued, they had neglected to clean them. Colonel Lloyd, who was ever on the alert, particularly when near the enemy, having paid them a visit very early in the morning, took notice of their arms; but, without passing any remark, he called the sergeant, who, thinking that he wished to inspect the picquet, ordered them to turn out. ‘Never mind falling in,’ said the colonel; ‘I only called to ask why you did not make those Spaniards whom you relieved last night take their arms with them.’ The sergeant who did not see through the sarcasm, replied, that the Spaniards did take their arms with them.