"Major-General Fane has received the orders of His Excellency Lord Wellington, Commander-in-Chief, &c. to convey to Captain White[3] and Lieutenant Turner of the Thirteenth Light Dragoons, and to the Alferes Pedro Raymando di Oliviera, of the Fourth regiment of Portuguese Dragoons, and to the non-commissioned officers and soldiers engaged in the affair of the 22nd instant, near Ladoera, His Excellency's approbation of their conduct, and to inform them, that His Excellency will not fail to report his sense of their behaviour in the most favourable terms to His Majesty and to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent."
The captured horses were sold by auction, and the proceeds of the sale divided among the Thirteenth Light Dragoons.
1811
After some further retrograde movements, Lord Wellington resolved to oppose the enemy's forces on the rocks of Busaco, and during the hard-fought battle on the 27th of September, the Thirteenth Dragoons were posted in front of Alva to observe and check the movements of the French cavalry on the Mondego. The squadron detached to Cadiz had, in the mean time, returned to Portugal, and it joined the regiment about this period.
After sustaining a severe repulse at Busaco, the enemy turned the position by a flank movement, and the allied army withdrew to the lines of Torres Vedras. During the skilful performance of these difficult operations, the numerous cavalry of the enemy were effectually kept in check by the British squadrons, who, by their bold front and noble daring, whenever an opportunity occurred, succeeded in instilling into their adversaries a dread of their superior prowess. The French marshal viewed the stupendous works of Torres Vedras with astonishment and dismay, and finding it impossible to accomplish his threat of driving the English into the sea, he withdrew to Santarem, when the Thirteenth Light Dragoons advanced, and having crossed the Tagus in boats at Valada, they proceeded to Chamusca, a village, situated on the left bank of the river.
The Thirteenth Dragoons were stationed some months at Chamusca and its neighbourhood, where Marshal Sir William Carr Beresford fixed his head-quarters, having under him a strong body of troops to prevent the passage of the Tagus, and to intercept all communications between Marshal Massena and Marshal Soult. In this service the regiment was employed until the 6th of March, 1811, when the French army having retired from Santarem, it moved forward in pursuit, and the scenes of devastation, slaughter, and confusion it witnessed on the line of the enemy's disastrous retreat, exceed description. After following the French a considerable distance, the regiment was detached, with other forces under Marshal Beresford, to the relief of Campo Mayor, which fortress was besieged by a detachment from Marshal Soult's army.
Campo Mayor surrendered before the arrival of the troops sent to its relief, and the French, having dismantled the works, were marching out of the town as the British approached it on the morning of the 25th of March,—they consisted of nearly nine hundred cavalry, three battalions of infantry, some horse artillery, and a battering train of sixteen guns, under the command of their celebrated general, Latour Maubourg. One squadron of the Thirteenth Dragoons was attached to the light division on this occasion; a troop was with a brigade of Portuguese infantry, and five troops were at the head of the column. Having turned the town by the left, the regiment sent forward one troop to skirmish with the enemy, who retreated by the Badajoz road. The British pressed forward in a semi-circular form, to enclose the French, who halted with their infantry in square, and their cavalry formed in their front and rear. Colonel Michael Head was directed to attack with the two squadrons of the Thirteenth, amounting to two hundred and three officers and soldiers, and he led them forward with the most distinguished gallantry[4]; a regiment of French hussars advanced to meet the Thirteenth, and the opposing horsemen raised a loud shout and rushed upon each other. Several men were overthrown by the shock; the combatants pierced through on both sides, and facing about, charged each other again with the most heroic bravery. A sharp sword conflict ensued, in which the valour of the Thirteenth proved victorious, and many of the hussars having been cut down, the remainder fled. In the mean time, a French squadron formed on the enemy's right, wheeled inwards, and, attacking the British left, did some mischief; but the Thirteenth promptly opposed, and overthrew them after a short contest. The French continued their flight, the Thirteenth followed, and such was the ardour of these brave swordsmen, that the fire of the French infantry could not stop them; they galloped forward, cut down the French gunners, and, believing the other brigades would easily dispose of the French troops thus passed, they continued the pursuit. For some time the French dragoons resisted, but their formation soon became so completely broken, that they surrendered as soon as they were overtaken. The pursuit was continued at a rapid rate, the object being to gain the front, and capture the whole, as well as the enormous quantity of baggage on the road; but the dragoons were not aware of what was taking place in the rear. Marshal Beresford was informed that the Thirteenth Dragoons were cut off; the loss of one regiment appeared to be a serious disaster, and he did not permit the heavy cavalry to charge. The French infantry retiring steadily, recovered their artillery, and effected their retreat. Meanwhile the Thirteenth and some Portuguese squadrons, commanded by Colonel Otway, who formed as a support during the attack, were pursuing the French troopers at a rapid pace; on arriving at the bridge of Badajoz, they were fired upon by the guns of that fortress. The regiment then halted and retired to secure the prisoners, and captured artillery and baggage. Some of the French drivers, refusing to surrender, were sabred, and the mules were mounted by men of the Thirteenth. The retreat was continued several miles, the men in high spirits at their wonderful success; at length they were met by the retiring French infantry, and by all the beaten cavalry which could find refuge with it. For a few exhausted dragoons to have engaged that body of troops would have been madness, and the Thirteenth were forced to abandon their captures and make a detour to the right to join the army, which they effected, and went into bivouac in the neighbourhood of Campo Mayor. The loss of the regiment was twelve men and seven horses killed; Lieutenants William Slater Smith and Frederick Geale, Adjutant Holmes, Quarter-master Greenham, one serjeant, twenty-eight rank and file, wounded; one serjeant, nineteen rank and file, and forty-four horses missing. Three hundred French were killed, wounded, and taken prisoners; the French colonel, Chamarin, of the Twenty-sixth Dragoons, was killed in single combat by Corporal Logan, of the Thirteenth Light Dragoons, which, with many other instances of individual bravery in this sharply contested affair, is recorded in the books of the regiment[5].
The Thirteenth, on this occasion, evinced the superiority of their discipline over their equally brave and numerically superior adversaries, by their greater quickness in rallying after the different attacks,—and this circumstance, with the skilful and determined use of their weapons, greatly tended to their brilliant success in this well-fought field.
An officer, who made his escape from Badajoz a few days after this affair, reported that the French infantry had brought in a great number of severely wounded cavalry soldiers—chiefly sabre wounds[6].