[137] The French officers were censured for continuing these attacks on the village, instead of assailing the right. “At Fuentes d’Onoro the British army stood, after the right wing was thrown back, on perfectly open and level ground, one point only resting on the strong village in question; yet was that strong point constantly attacked, while the army was left totally unassailed. At Albuera the French employed the whole of Godinot’s division of infantry in the attack of the village that gives its name to the battle; yet, when evacuated by Alten’s brigades, it proved of no use whatever, for the battle was fought and decided on open ground, at the other extremity of the field, where an entire division of infantry would probably have turned the fate of the day.”—Raoul.
[138] “He ruined all the principal bastions, and kept up a constant fire of the artillery in a singular manner, for always he fired several guns at one moment with very heavy charges, placing one across the muzzle of another, so that, while some shots flew towards the besiegers, and a loud explosion was heard, others destroyed pieces without attracting notice.”—Napier.
[139] When Brennier’s escape was reported to Picton by an Irish officer, the general, never remarkable for suavity of temper, hastily inquired, “What the devil were the ——th doing?”—“Faith,” returned his informant, “I suppose they were asleep.” “Asleep!—What then was the ——th about?” and he named the next regiment in the line.—“Devil a one of me can tell,” replied the Irishman coolly; “but maybe they were watching the ——th, for fear somebody would waken them!”
[140] “Observing that all the interior of the castle could be seen from a small fort situated on the heights of Christoval, on the Portuguese side of the Guadiana, and that the back of the front defence of the castle might be enfiladed from thence, it became clear, that should the fort be reduced, and heavy batteries erected within it, no body of men, exposed to their fire, could stand to dispute a breach in the wall, which formed the sole defence of the castle. That wall, from its uncovered position, appeared liable to be battered down from a distance; and as, when in possession of the castle, the resistance of the town must, under its commanding influence, cease, Badajoz might by this mode of attack be captured in a fortnight.”—Jones’s Account of the War.
[141] Much of the success of a siege depends on the quality and endurance of its battering train, as well as the accurate service of the guns. In some of the sieges undertaken by the Duke of Wellington, his artillery were miserably deficient—and the wonder is how, with such inadequate means, he effected successful results in such brief time, and under the greatest disadvantages. A French engineer, in alluding to the sieges, makes the following observations:—“There sat down before the place a besieging army of fourteen or fifteen thousand men, including three thousand Spaniards, and two thousand Portuguese militia; and the artillery to be employed amounted to forty pieces, among which are to be numbered four 10-inch and six 8-inch howitzers. Of mortars we possessed none; eight, therefore, out of the ten howitzers were directed to be used as such; and our guns, of which two were 24-pounders, and four 16-pounders, were all brass, and of Portuguese manufacture. The engineers’ stores collected on the occasion comprised three thousand five hundred intrenching tools, sixty thousand sand-bags, six hundred gabions, a very few fascines, and an extremely inadequate quantity of splinter-proof timber and planks; whilst, independently of the officers, there were attached to the department, one hundred and sixty-nine men of the line, to act as overseers, forty-eight carpenters, forty-eight miners, and twenty-five rank and file, of the corps of royal artificers. The chief engineer and principal director of the operations was Lieutenant-colonel Fletcher. Major Dixon, of the Portuguese artillery, was at the head of that department; and Captains Ross and MacLeod were put in charge of two depôts, which were established on each side of the river.”
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“The first siege of Badajoz by the English, being attempted with forty bronze cannon of Portuguese construction, the whole were rendered unserviceable in a very short space of time, though loaded with powder not more than one-third of the weight of the balls, and discharged at the moderate rate of once only in eight minutes; and the siege miscarried. The English attributed the quick deterioration of the cannon to the strength of their powder, and consequently they determined to have no parks but such as were composed of cast-iron cannon from England. The latter was the description of artillery which they employed when they attacked Ciudad Rodrigo in the January following. They established their batteries at a distance of about 500 yards (mètres) from the escarp, and fired upon it incessantly, until they had opened two practicable breaches; this they effected in two-and-thirty hours and a half’s firing, and they carried the place in five days. There was not a single cannon which burst, or suffered injury, though each was fired a very considerable number of times in constant succession. The siege of Badajoz was resumed a second time, and the breaching batteries were established at about 710 yards’ distance (mètres). The number of cannon brought to bear was sixteen 24-pounders, twenty-four 18-pounders, and six mortars of five inches and a half diameter. The attack began on the 30th of March, and by the 6th of April three practicable breaches were effected; that in the curtain was forty feet broad; that on the flank ninety feet; and the third, which was on the face of the bastion, was 150 feet. The number of hours’ firing was 104, and the number of projectiles discharged 35,246. The results were the same during this siege as at the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo; not a single cannon burst, or became unserviceable, though the 24-pounders were fired in constant succession, at the rate of 1249 discharges each.”
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“The siege of St. Sebastian affords a third instance of the extreme endurance of English cast-iron cannon. The breaching batteries, which were established at a distance of about 660 yards (mètres) from the place, opened a breach 100 feet broad in the escarp, against which they were directed, and it was rendered practicable on the third day after the firing was first opened. The batteries were composed of thirty-four cannon, of which twenty were 24-pounders. The same batteries being opened the next morning, to make a second breach, effected one of thirty feet in breadth, after fifteen hours and a half’s firing. During this interval each cannon discharged from 300 to 350 shot without being injured. Had it been required to produce the same result with brass cannon, three times as many cannon would have been necessary, supposing the ordinary rate of firing to have been observed. During this siege, which was twice resumed, several of the pieces withstood the discharge upwards of 9,000 times in uninterrupted succession, without experiencing any material damage. Their fire was so accurate at the last attack, that they were employed in throwing shrapnel-shells, filled with powder and balls, over the heads of the besiegers, for the purpose of driving away the besieged who lined the top of the breach. It was one of these shells which set fire to a quantity of obusses and bombs that stood on the rampart, and occasioned an explosion, which created so much confusion in the place as to produce its fall.”—Thierry.
[142] Napier.