Accordingly, on the 10th of April, he made the following dispositions:—The Spaniards under Don Manuel Freyre were to attack the redoubts fronting the town; General Picton and the light division were to keep the enemy in check on the great road to Paris, but not to attack; and Marshal Beresford, with General Clinton and the sixth division, was to attack the centre of the entrenchments, whilst General Cole with the fourth marched against the right. The part taken by the 42d in this struggle is so well and fully described by Mr Malcolm, formerly of the 42d, in his Reminiscence of a Campaign in 1814, that we shall quote his description here:—
“Early on Sunday morning, the 10th of April, our tents were struck, and we moved with the other regiments of the sixth division towards the neighbourhood of Toulouse, until ordered to halt on a level ground, from whence we had a distinct view of the enemy’s position on the ridge of hills already mentioned. At the same time we saw Lord Wellington, accompanied by his staff, riding back from the front at a hard trot. Some of the men called out, ‘There goes Wellington, my lads; we shall have some hot work presently.’
“At that moment Major General Pack, who commanded our brigade, came up, and calling its officers and non-commissioned officers round him, addressed them to the following effect:—‘We are this day to attack the enemy; your business will be to take possession of those fortified heights, which you see towards the front. I have only to warn you to be prepared to form close column in case of a charge of cavalry; to restrain the impetuosity of the men; and to prevent them from wasting their ammunition.’ The drums then beat to arms, and we received orders to move towards the enemy’s position.
“Our division (the sixth) approached the foot of the ridge of heights on the enemy’s right and moved in a direction parallel to them, until we reached the point of attack. We advanced under a heavy cannonade, and arrived in front of a redoubt, which protected the right of the enemy’s position, where we were formed in two lines,—the first, consisting of some Portuguese regiments,—and the reserve, of the Highland Brigade.
“Darkening the whole hill, flanked by clouds of cavalry, and covered by the fire of their redoubt, the enemy came down upon us like a torrent. Their generals and field-officers riding in front, and waving their hats amidst shouts of the multitude, resembling the roar of an ocean. Our Highlanders, as if actuated by one instinctive impulse, took off their bonnets, and waving them in the air, returned their greeting with three cheers.
“A deathlike silence ensued for some moments, and we could observe a visible pause in the advance of the enemy. At that moment the light company of the Forty-second Regiment, by a well-directed fire, brought down some of the French officers of distinction, as they rode in front of their respective corps. The enemy immediately fired a volley into our lines, and advanced upon us amidst a deafening roar of musketry and artillery. Our troops answered their fire only once, and unappalled by their furious onset, advanced up the hill, and met them at the charge. Upon reaching the summit of the ridge of heights, the redoubt, which had covered their advance, fell into our possession; but they still retained four others, with their connecting lines of intrenchments, upon the level of the same heights on which we were now established, and into which they had retired.
“Meantime, our troops were drawn up along a road, which passed over the hill, and which having a high bank at each side, protected us in some measure from the general fire of their last line of redoubts. Here our brigade remained until Marshal Beresford’s Artillery, which, in consequence of the badness of the roads, had been left in the village of Mont Blanc, could be brought up, and until the Spaniards under General Don Manuel Freyre, who, in proceeding along the left of the Ers, had been repulsed, could be reformed, and brought back to the attack. Marshal Beresford’s artillery having arrived, and the Spanish troops being once more brought forward, Major-General Pack rode up in front of our brigade, and made the following announcement:—‘I have just now been with General Clinton, and he has been pleased to grant my request, that in the charge which we are now to make upon the enemy’s redoubts, the Forty-second regiment shall have the honour of leading on the attack; the Forty-second will advance.’
“We immediately began to form for the charge upon the redoubts, which were about two or three hundred yards distant, and to which we had to pass over some ploughed fields. The grenadiers of the Forty-second regiment followed by the other companies, led the way, and began to ascend from the road; but no sooner were the feathers of their bonnets seen rising over the embankment, than such a tremendous fire was opened from the redoubts and intrenchments, as in a very short time would have annihilated them. The right wing, therefore, hastily formed into line, and without waiting for the left, which was ascending by companies from the road, rushed upon the batteries, which vomited forth a most furious and terrific storm of fire, grape-shot, and musketry.
“The redoubts were erected along the side of a road, and defended by broad ditches filled with water. Just before our troops reached the obstruction, however, the enemy deserted them and fled in all directions, leaving their last line of strongholds in our possession; but they still possessed two fortified houses close by, from which they kept up a galling and destructive fire. Out of about 500 men, which the Forty-second brought into action, scarcely 90 reached the fatal redoubt from which the enemy had fled.
“Our colonel was a brave man, but there are moments when a well-timed manœuvre is of more advantage than courage. The regiment stood on the road with its front exactly to the enemy, and if the left wing had been ordered forward, it could have sprung up the bank in line and dashed forward on the enemy at once. Instead of this, the colonel faced the right wing to its right, counter-marched in rear of the left, and when the leading rank cleared the left flank it was made to file up the bank, and as soon as it made its appearance the shot, shell, and musketry poured in with deadly destruction; and in this exposed position we had to make a second countermarch on purpose to bring our front to the enemy. These movements consumed much time, and by this unnecessary exposure exasperated the men to madness. The word ‘Forward—double-quick!’ dispelled the gloom, and forward we drove, in the face of apparent destruction. The field had been lately rough ploughed or under fallow, and when a man fell he tripped the one behind, thus the ranks were opening as we approached the point whence all this hostile vengeance proceeded; but the rush forward had received an impulse from desperation, ‘the spring of the men’s patience had been strained until ready to snap, and when left to the freedom of its own extension, ceased not to act until the point to which it was directed was attained.’ In a minute every obstacle was surmounted; the enemy fled as we leaped over the trenches and mounds like a pack of noisy hounds in pursuit, frightening them more by our wild hurrahs than actually hurting them by ball or bayonet.