At first, La Peña’s march pointed to Medina Sidonia, his vanguard stormed Casa Viejas on the 2d of March, and the troops from Algesiras, amounting to sixteen hundred infantry, besides several hundreds of irregular cavalry, came in to him; encreasing his force to twelve thousand infantry, eight hundred horsemen, and twenty-four guns. The 3d he resumed his march, but hearing that Medina Sidonia was entrenched, turned towards the coast, and drove the French from Vejer de la Frontera. The following evening he continued his movement, and at nine o’clock on the morning of the 5th, after a skirmish, in which his advanced guard of cavalry was routed by a French squadron, he reached the Cerro de Puerco, called by the English, the heights of Barosa; being then only four miles from the sea mouth of the Santi Petri.
Barosa is a low ridge, creeping in from the coast, about one mile and a half, and overlooking a high and broken plain of small extent. This plain was bounded on the left by the coast clifts, on the right by the forest of Chiclana, and in front by a pine-wood, beyond which rose the narrow height of Bermeja, filling the space between the Almanza creek and the sea. The Bermeja hill, could be reached either by moving through the wood in front, or along the beach under the clifts.
At Tarifa, Graham, judging that Victor would surely come out of his lines to fight, had obtained from La Peña a promise to make short marches; to keep the troops fresh for battle; and not to approach the enemy except in a concentrated Appendix, [No. IX.] Section 1.mass. Nevertheless, the day’s march from Casa Vieja, being made through bad roads, with ignorant guides, had occupied fifteen hours, and the night march to Barosa had been still more fatiguing. The troops came up in a straggling manner, and ere they had all arrived, La Peña, as if in contempt of his colleague, without either disclosing his own plans, or communicating by signal or otherwise with Zayas, sent the vanguard, reinforced by a squadron and three guns, straight against the mouth of the Santi Petri. Zayas had, indeed, cast his bridge there on the 2d, and commenced an entrenchment; but, in the following night, being surprised by the French, was driven again into the Isla: hence the movement of the vanguard was exceedingly dangerous. Lardizabal, however, after a sharp skirmish, in which he lost nearly three hundred men, forced the enemy’s posts between the Almanza creek and the sea, and effected a junction with Zayas.
Graham was extremely desirous of holding the Barosa height, as the key both to offensive and defensive movements, and he argued that no general in his senses would lend his flank to an enemy, by attacking the Bermeja while Barosa was occupied in force. Lascy, the chief of the Spanish staff, having however opposed this reasoning, La Peña commanded Graham to march the British troops through the wood to Bermeja. With great temper, he obeyed this uncourteous order; and leaving the flank companies of the ninth and eighty-second, under major Brown, as a guard for the baggage, commenced his march, in the full persuasion that La Peña would remain with Anglona’s division and the cavalry at Barosa; and the more so, as a Spanish detachment was still on the side of Medina. But scarcely had the British entered the wood, when La Peña, without any notice, carried off the corps of battle, directed the cavalry to follow by the sea-road, and repaired himself to Santi Petri, leaving Barosa crowded with baggage, and protected only by a rear guard of four guns and five battalions.
During these movements, Victor remained close in the forest of Chiclana, and the patrols of the allied cavalry reported that they could see no enemy; Graham’s march therefore, being only of two miles, seemed secure. The French marshal was, however, keenly watching the allies’ progress; having recalled his infantry from Medina Sidonia as soon as La Peña had reached Barosa, he momentarily expected their arrival; but he felt so sure of success, that the cavalry at Medina and Arcos were directed upon Vejer and other places, to cut off Appendix, [No. I.] Section 7.the fugitives after the approaching battle. The duke of Belluno had in hand fourteen pieces of artillery and nine thousand excellent troops, of the divisions of Laval, Ruffin, and Villatte; from these he drew three grenadier battalions as reserves, attaching two of them and three squadrons of cavalry to the division of Ruffin, which formed his left wing, the other to the division of Laval, which formed his centre. Villatte’s troops, about two thousand five hundred in number, after being withdrawn from Bermeja, were posted close to a bridge on the Almanza creek, to cover the works of the camp, and to watch the Spanish forces at Santi Petri and Bermeja.
BATTLE OF BAROSA.
When Victor observed that Graham’s corps was in the wood, that a strong body of Spaniards was on the Bermeja, that a third body, with all the baggage, was at Barosa, and a fourth still in march from Vejer; he took Villatte’s division as his pivot, and coming forth with a rapid pace into the plain, directed Laval against the English, while himself, with Ruffin’s brigade, ascending the reverse side of Barosa, cut off the Spanish detachment on the road to Medina, and drove the whole of the rear guard off the height towards the sea; dispersing the baggage and followers of the army in all directions, and taking three Spanish guns.
Major Brown, seeing the general confusion, and being unable to stem the torrent, slowly retired into the plain, sending notice of what was passing to Graham, and demanding orders. That general, being then near Bermeja, answered, that he was to fight; and instantly facing about himself, regained the plain with the greatest celerity, expecting to find La Peña, with the corps of battle and the cavalry, on the height: but when the view opened, he beheld Ruffin, flanked by the chosen battalions, near the top of Barosa at the one side, the Spanish rear guard and baggage flying in confusion on the other, the French cavalry between the summit and the sea, and Laval close on his own left flank; but La Peña he could see no where. In this desperate situation, he felt that to retreat upon Bermeja, and thus bring the enemy, pell mell with the allies on to that narrow ridge, must be disastrous, hence, without a moment’s hesitation, he resolved to attack, although the key of the field of battle was already in the enemy’s possession.
Ten guns, under major Duncan, instantly opened a terrific fire against Laval’s column, while colonel Andrew Barnard, with the riflemen and the Portuguese companies, running out to the left, commenced the fight: the remainder of the British troops, without any attention to regiments or brigades, so sudden was the affair, formed two masses, one of which under general Dilke marched hastily against Ruffin, and the other under colonel Wheately against Laval. Duncan’s guns ravaged the French ranks; Laval’s artillery replied vigorously; Ruffin’s batteries took Wheately’s column in flank; and the infantry on both sides pressed forward eagerly, and with a pealing musketry; but, when near together, a fierce, rapid, prolonged charge of the British overthrew the first line of the French, and, notwithstanding its extreme valour, drove it in confusion, over a narrow dip of ground upon the second, which was almost immediately broken in the same manner, and only the chosen battalion, hitherto posted on the right, remained to cover the retreat.
Meanwhile Brown, on receiving his orders, had marched headlong against Ruffin. Nearly half of his detachment went down under the enemy’s first fire; yet he maintained the fight, until Dilke’s column, which had crossed a deep hollow and never stopt even to re-form the regiments, came up, with little order indeed, but in a fierce mood, when the whole run up towards the summit; there was no slackness on any side, and at the very edge of the ascent their gallant opponents met them. A dreadful, and for some time a doubtful, fight ensued, but Ruffin and Chaudron Rousseau, commanding the chosen grenadiers, both fell mortally wounded; the English bore strongly onward, and their incessant slaughtering fire forced the French from the hill with the loss of three guns and many brave soldiers.