War Medals and Their History

by William Augustus Steward

The regulars represented in this affair were 30 Royal Artillerymen, about 250 men of the 41st (the Welsh Regiment), which, together with its linked battalion, the 69th, bears DETROIT on its colours; 50 of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment; 400 Canadian militiamen, and 600 Indians.

Vittoria.—Following the abortive siege of Burgos, September 19th, 1813, Wellington retired to Frenada and Coria on the frontiers of Portugal, and went into winter quarters to await reinforcements. They having arrived, and the army being well equipped and in a good disciplinary spirit, he commenced the second part of the Peninsular campaign, which was destined to be a series of successes for the British commander, who commenced the final campaign in May 1813, by bidding adieu to Portugal, and marching into Spain with 70,000 men. He swept everything before him to the Pyrenees. "Neither," says Napier, "the winter gulleys, nor the ravines, nor the precipitate passes among the rocks, retarded even the march of the artillery—where horses could not draw, men hauled; when the wheels would not roll, the guns were let down or lifted by ropes—six days they toiled unceasingly, and on the seventh (June 20th) they burst like raging streams from every defile, and went foaming into the basin of Vittoria." There Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jourdan had taken up the position from which they were to be driven by the forceful Wellington, who spared nothing to achieve his object. "Never," wrote Napier, "was an army more hardly used by its commander, and never was a victory more complete." It was a terrific struggle; "the hills laboured and shook, and streamed with fire and water," ere the pseudo-king, Joseph Bonaparte, and his army fled in confusion, leaving all his personal belongings, and the rich pictures and plunder he had taken from every part of Spain, strewn on the road, for whosoever had a mind to acquire; 151 guns, 415 caissons of ammunition, 4,000 rounds for guns, and 2,000,000 musket cartridges were also abandoned, and a full military treasure-chest. Indeed, never had such an accumulation of military stores and private wealth been abandoned by a routed army.

The French General Gazan, who took part in the battle, recorded that the French "lost all their equipage, all their guns, all their treasure, all their papers, so that no man could prove how much pay was due to him." Joseph Bonaparte's carriage was abandoned in the street in his haste to evade Captain Wyndham, who made a bold dash to secure him; the Sword of State, emblematic of the kingship which the brother of Bonaparte had claimed, but which he had lost for ever, and the marshal's baton belonging to Jourdan, together with the Eagle of the 100th Regiment, were among the spoils. It is also recorded that "a perfect herd of women, including General Gazan's wife, and a number of the wives, mistresses, actresses, and nuns, belonging to officers and men of the French army, were abandoned." The Field Marshal's baton, which was taken by the 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel (afterwards Viscount) Gough, was sent to the Prince Regent, who responded by sending Wellington the Field Marshal's baton of Britain.

The French loss in killed and wounded was estimated by M. Thiers at 5,000; the allies' losses were, British 500 killed, 2,300 wounded, and 266 missing; the Portuguese loss was about 150 killed and 900 wounded; the Spanish losing 89 killed and 460 wounded.

The British regiments present were the 1st and 2nd Life Guards and Horse Guards, represented by two squadrons; 1st, 3rd, and 5th Dragoons; 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, and 18th Light Dragoons; 2nd and 3rd Foot Guards; 1st Royal Scots; 2nd Queen's Royal; 4th King's Own Royal; 5th Northumberland Fusiliers; 6th Royal 1st Warwickshire; 7th Royal Fusiliers; 9th East Norfolk; 20th; 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers; 24th; 27th Inniskilling; 28th North Gloucestershire; 31st, 34th, 38th Staffordshire; 39th Dorsetshire; 40th; 43rd Monmouth Light Infantry; 45th Sherwood Foresters; 47th Lancashire; 48th Northamptonshire; 50th Queen's Own; 51st King's Own Light Infantry; 52nd Oxford Light Infantry; 53rd Shropshire; 57th West Middlesex; 58th, 59th, 60th King's Royal Rifle Corps; 66th Berkshire; 68th Durham Light Infantry; 71st Highland Light Infantry; 74th Highland Regiment; 82nd Prince of Wales Volunteers; 83rd; 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers; 88th Connaught Rangers; 92nd Gordon Highlanders; 94th; 95th Derbyshire.

Pyrenees.—The rout at Vittoria gave Wellington possession of the passes of the Pyrenees, and when in 1849 it was decided to decorate the surviving soldiers of the Peninsular War, all those who had taken part in the series of extraordinary actions in the Pyrenees, Roncesvalles, Maya, Santarem, and Buenzas, from July 28th to August 2nd, 1813, were awarded the medal with bar inscribed PYRENEES, and those who were entitled to the medal for other actions received the additional bar. Napoleon ordered his brother to retire into private life and instructed the officials not to pay him the respect due to a monarch. Soult was ordered to take up the command, and did so with a zest and ability that has called forth the admiration of all who recognise in the dread game of war that sportsmanlike character which thoughtfully dares all and takes its rebuffs with a smile.

Siege of Sebastian.—Meanwhile, Wellington instructed the Spanish Generals to blockade the fortress of Pampeluna, and besieged San Sebastian, which was blockaded by the British Navy on July 3rd, and invested by the troops under Sir Thomas Graham on the 9th. During this, the first siege of San Sebastian, a Frenchman states that on the 19th and 20th for fifteen hours the British fired 350 shots per gun. On the 24th General Graham ordered the assault, and the way was led by Colin Campbell (afterwards Lord Clyde) of the 9th, and Machet the engineer. Campbell, doing many a daring deed, saw all his friends dead round him, while he, seriously wounded, was spared to achieve greater things. In this assault 44 officers of the line and 500 men were killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. The battalion of the Royal Scots present alone lost 87 killed and 246 wounded in the unsuccessful assault. In the meantime Marshal Soult, who had reached Bayonne on July 13th to take command of the united French army, attacked Major-General Byng's brigade at Roncesvalles on the 25th, while Count D'Erlon proceeded to attack Sir Rowland Hill in the Pass of Maya, where very desperate fighting ensued. The fighting at Roncesvalles and Maya continued until nine in the evening, when it was deemed advisable to abandon the Pass of Maya to the enemy.

Gallantry of Gordons at Maya.—In the day's fighting the allies lost 1,600 men and 4 guns. In the Pass of Maya the British troops had been engaged for ten hours, and it is noteworthy that the 92nd Gordon Highlanders, being without ammunition, although ordered by General Stewart not to charge, could not be restrained, and not only charged, but led a charge against the enemy. In this engagement the 92nd lost 1 officer and 34 men killed, and 18 officers and 268 men wounded, one wing being practically annihilated. Napier states in his history of the war that "so dreadful was the slaughter, especially of the 92nd, that it is said the advancing enemy was actually stopped by the heaped dead and dying. The stern valour of the 92nd, principally composed of Scotsmen, would have graced Thermopylæ." In this sanguinary combat the 82nd also particularly distinguished itself.