"Sir,—I have great pleasure in communicating to you, by direction of Colonel Ponsonby, the cavalry and brigade orders issued on a late occasion, when the Fifth Dragoon Guards attacked a very superior enemy, and forced him to retire with the loss of about one hundred killed and wounded, besides one lieutenant-colonel, two captains, one lieutenant, and one hundred and forty men taken prisoners, with near one hundred horses. This affair presents a pledge of the future good conduct of the regiment whenever an opportunity again appears of meeting the enemy, and must be peculiarly gratifying to you and to the remainder of the corps at the depôt in England, to hear from such undoubted authority, that the regiment still continues to support that high character which it gained on many former glorious occasions, and in our estimation this last is not the least:—the regiment having, previous to the attack on three times its numbers of the enemy's best cavalry, made a forced march of upwards of sixty miles without halting,—four of the last of which was at a very brisk pace, through a difficult country, over rocks, ravines, and stone walls; then forming with unexampled celerity, and charging with equal and regular rapidity through a grove of olive-trees until it came in contact with the enemy, who retired in great disorder under the cover of his infantry and guns. Our loss in this brilliant affair was comparatively trifling, as will be seen by the subjoined statement of the names of the brave men who fell.
"W. Jackson,
"Adjutant."
Thus the Dragoon Guards of the nineteenth century are found rivalling the celebrated heavy Horse of the preceding ages. The regiment lost, on this occasion, one corporal and fourteen private men killed; Major Prescot, Lieutenant Walker, three serjeants, one corporal, and twenty-one private men wounded.
A detachment of the Fifth Dragoon Guards escorted the prisoners captured on this occasion to the fortress of Elvas in Portugal. The regiment afterwards marched to Crato.
Advancing from Crato into Spain, the Fifth Dragoon Guards took part in the movements by which the French were driven from Salamanca, and the forts at that city were besieged and captured.
After the capture of the forts, the regiment advanced upon Toro, but was subsequently ordered to retire to Alaejos to support a body of troops, under Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton, posted on the Trabancos; and several retrograde movements followed, which were succeeded by the battle of Salamanca. During the night before this eventful day, while the regiment was dismounted, a violent storm occurred. The thunder rolled with tremendous violence over the heads of the men and horses; the lightning played in sheets of fire and shed its blazing gleams upon the polished arms; and the rain fell in torrents. One flash fell among the Fifth Dragoon Guards; the terrified horses breaking loose galloped wildly about in the dark, and every additional clap of thunder and blaze of lightning augmented the confusion. Twenty men of the regiment were trampled down and disabled, and several horses escaped into the French lines.
On the morning of the memorable 22d of July, the Fifth Dragoon Guards, commanded by Colonel the Honourable William Ponsonby, moved from their bivouac and formed in the rear of the centre of the position occupied by the allied army.
While the French commander was manœuvring, Lord Wellington took advantage of an injudicious movement, and ordered his divisions forward to attack their adversaries, when the Fifth Dragoon Guards took ground to their right, passed the village of Arapiles, and advancing in support of the third and fifth divisions, were exposed to a heavy cannonade. The French army, being attacked at the moment it was making a complicated evolution, was unable to withstand the British forces; in a short time, a favourable opportunity for a charge of the heavy cavalry occurred, and the Fifth Dragoon Guards, and Third and Fourth Dragoons, were ordered to attack.[10] The bugles sounded; the brigade moved forward, increasing its pace, with Major-General Le Marchant at its head, and a most animated scene presented itself. The din of battle was heard on every side; clouds of dust and rising columns of smoke darkened the air, and enveloped the foaming squadrons as they dashed forward and shook the ground with their trampling hoofs. In front, the glittering bayonets and waving colours of French infantry were dimly seen through the thickened atmosphere; these formidable ranks of war were, in an instant, broken and overthrown by the terrific charge of this brigade; the resolute troopers, mingling with their discomfited antagonists, cut them down with a dreadful carnage, while the British infantry raised shouts of triumph and applause at the success of the cavalry, and numbers of the enemy laid down their arms, and surrendered prisoners of war. Major-General Le Marchant was shot through the body, which terminated the career of that gallant and talented officer; the command of the brigade devolved on the brave Colonel the Honourable William Ponsonby of the Fifth Dragoon Guards, and the officers and men of the regiment, emulating the heroic fire and energy of their favourite leader, performed deeds of valour worthy the high character of their corps. Having subdued one body of infantry, they continued their career through a wood in their front without waiting to re-form their ranks; another formidable mass of fresh adversaries presented itself; the undaunted heavy horsemen, conscious of their power, flushed with success, stimulated to new energies by seeing Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton and his staff at their head, rushed forward with reckless fury; though assailed by a volley of musketry, which proved fatal to many, the survivors passed through the curling smoke, scarcely seeming to touch the ground, and the next moment the French column was broken with a dreadful crash. That mass of infantry, a moment before so menacing and conspicuous, was become a confused rabble, while the victorious troopers, exulting in uncontrollable might, trampled down and plunged their horses through the enemy's ranks, sabring their dismayed adversaries, and producing havoc and confusion on every hand.[11] Five guns and more than two thousand prisoners were captured, and a division of French infantry was destroyed; two guns were seized by the Fifth Dragoon Guards, and sent to the rear immediately after they broke through the enemy's ranks. Such were the splendid results of this gallant and dreadful charge, in which the weight, prowess, and daring impetuosity of the Fifth Dragoon Guards, and Third and Fourth Dragoons, seconded by the light brigade, proved irresistible, and contributed materially in deciding the fortune of a battle in which the French army sustained a decisive overthrow, and eleven guns and two eagles remained in possession of the conquerors. The British commander stated in his public despatch,—"The cavalry, under Sir Stapleton Cotton, made a most gallant and successful charge upon a body of French infantry, which they overthrew and cut to pieces:" Colonel the Honourable William Ponsonby was presented with a gold medal for his conduct as commanding officer; and the regiment was afterwards rewarded with the honour of bearing the word Salamanca on its standards and appointments. Its loss was Captain Osborne, two serjeants, one corporal, and twelve private men killed; Lieutenant Christie, one serjeant, one corporal, and fourteen private men wounded.
