[110] At this period (immediately before the battle of Busaco), the best information made the French united force exceed seventy thousand men. The exact strength of the allies was, 23,868 infantry, 2,870 cavalry, and about 2,000 artillery; making 28,738 British soldiers. The Portuguese corps numbered 21,712 infantry, 1,696 cavalry, and 1,000 gunners; making a grand total of 52,136 men, of which nearly 25,000 were detached under Hill and Leith, leaving only 28,000 disposable troops with Lord Wellington.
[111] “It is the only place in that kingdom where the bare-footed Carmelites possessed what, in monastic language, is called a desert; by which term an establishment is designated where those brethren, whose piety flies the highest pitch, may at once enjoy the advantages of the eremite and the discipline of the cenobite life, and thus indulge the heroism of ascetic devotion in security. The convent, surrounded by an extensive and almost impervious wood, stands in what may be called the crater of the loftiest part of the ridge; its precincts, which included a circumference of about four miles, were walled in. Within that circuit were various chapels and religious stations; and on the summit of the mountain, which is within the enclosure, a stone cross was erected of enormous size upon so huge a foundation that three thousand cart-loads of stone were employed in constructing its base. The cells of the brethren were round the church, not in a regular building, but accommodated to the irregularities of the ground, and lined with cork, which was everywhere used instead of wood, because of the dampness of the situation. Every cell had its garden and its watercourse for irrigating it, the cultivation of these little spots being the only recreation which the inhabitants allowed themselves as lawful. In one of these gardens the first cedars which grew in Portugal were raised. It was indeed one of those places where man has converted an earthly paradise into a purgatory for himself, but where superstition almost seems sanctified by everything around it. Lord Wellington’s head-quarters were in the convent; and the solitude and silence of Busaco were now broken by events, in which its hermits, dead as they were to the world, might be permitted to partake all the agitations of earthly hope and fear.”—Southey.
[112] A singular circumstance, which occurred that night in the bivouac of Craufurd’s division, is thus related:
“One of those extraordinary panics that, in ancient times, were attributed to the influence of a hostile god, took place. No enemy was near, no alarm was given, yet suddenly the troops, as if seized with a frenzy, started from sleep, and dispersed in every direction; nor was there any possibility of allaying this strange terror, until some persons called out that the enemy’s cavalry were among them, when the soldiers mechanically ran together in masses, and the illusion was instantly dissipated.”—Napier.
[113] “At this time the 45th were engaged with numbers out of proportion, but they gallantly maintained their ground. The 5th, 74th, and 83rd, were likewise attacked; but the 88th, from the nature of their situation, came in contact with the full body of the enemy, and, while opposed to three times their own number in front, were assailed on their left by a couple of hundred riflemen stationed in the rocks. Colonel Wallace changed his front, but had scarcely reached the rocks, when a fire, destructive as it was animated, assailed him. The moment was a critical one, but he never lost his presence of mind. He ordered his two first companies to attack the rocks, while he pressed forward with the remainder of his regiment against the main body. The 8th Portuguese were close on the enemy, and opened a well-directed fire, while the 45th were performing prodigies of valour. At this moment the 88th came up to the assistance of their comrades, and the three regiments pressed on: a terrific contest took place; the French fought well, but they had no chance with our men when we grappled close with them; and they were overthrown, leaving half of their column on the heath with which the hill was covered.
“The French, ranged amphitheatrically one above another, took a murderous aim at our soldiers in their advance to dislodge—officers as well as privates became personally engaged in a hand-to-hand fight. Captain Dunne fought with his sabre, while Captain Dansey made use of a firelock and bayonet; he received three wounds, and Captain Dunne owed his life to a sergeant of his company named Brazill, who, seeing his officer in danger of being overpowered, scrambled to his assistance, and making a thrust of his halbert at the Frenchman, transfixed him against the rock he was standing on.
“Although they combated with a desperation suited to the situation in which they were placed, the heroes of Austerlitz, Esling, and Wagram, were hurled from the rocks by the Rangers of Connaught.”—Reminiscences of a Subaltern.
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“The 88th arriving to the assistance of their comrades, instantly charged, and the enemy were borne over the cliffs and crags with fearful rapidity, many of them being literally picked out of the holes in the rocks by the bayonets of our soldiers.”—Lord Londonderry.
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