History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France from the year 1807 to the year 1814, vol. 6

by William Francis Patrick Napier

In the night of the 24th two thousand men of the fifth division filed into the trenches on the isthmus. This force was composed of the third battalion of the royals under major Frazer, destined to storm the great breach; the thirty-eighth regiment under colonel Greville, designed to assail the lesser and most distant breach; the ninth regiment under colonel Cameron, appointed to support the royals; finally a detachment, selected from the light companies of all those battalions, was placed in the centre of the royals under the command of lieutenant Campbell of the ninth regiment. This chosen detachment, accompanied by the engineer Machel with a ladder party, was intended to sweep the high curtain after the breach should be won.

The distance from the trenches to the points of attack was more than three hundred yards along the contracted space lying between the retaining wall of the horn-work and the river; the ground was strewed with rocks covered by slippery sea-weeds; the tide had left large and deep pools of water; the parapet of the horn-work was entire as well as the retaining wall; the parapets of the other works and the two towers, which closely flanked the breach, although injured were far from being ruined, and every place was thickly garnished with musqueteers. The difficulties of the attack were obvious, and a detachment of Portuguese placed in a trench opened beyond the parallel on the isthmus, within sixty yards of the ramparts, was ordered to quell if possible the fire of the horn-work.

While it was still dark the storming columns moved out of the trenches, and the globe of compression in the drain was exploded with great effect against the counterscarp and glacis of the horn-work. The garrison astonished by the unlooked-for event abandoned the flanking parapet, and the troops rushed onwards, the stormers for the main breach leading and suffering more from the fire of their own batteries on the right of the Urumea than from the enemy. Major Frazer and the engineer Harry Jones first reached the breach. The enemy had fallen back in confusion behind the ruins of the still burning houses, and those brave officers rushed up expecting that their troops would follow, but not many followed, for it was extremely dark, the natural difficulties of the way had contracted the front and disordered the column in its whole length, and the soldiers, straggling and out of wind, arrived in small disconnected parties at the foot of the breach. The foremost gathered near their gallant leaders, but the depth of the descent into the town and the volumes of flames and smoke which still issued from the burning houses behind awed the stoutest; and more than two-thirds of the storming column, irritated by the destructive flank fire, had broken off at the demi-bastion to commence a musquetry battle with the enemy on the rampart. Meanwhile the shells from the Monte Orgullo fell rapidly, the defenders of the breach rallied and with a smashing musquetry from the ruins and loopholed houses smote the head of the column, while the men in the towers smote them on the flanks; and from every quarter came showers of grape and hand-grenades tearing the ranks in a dreadful manner.

Major Frazer was killed on the flaming ruins, the intrepid Jones stood there awhile longer amidst a few heroic soldiers, hoping for aid, but none came and he and those with him were struck down. The engineer Machel had been killed early and the men bearing ladders fell or were dispersed. Thus the rear of the column was in absolute confusion before the head was beaten. It was in vain that colonel Greville of the thirty-eighth, colonel Cameron of the ninth, captain Archimbeau of the royals, and many other regimental officers exerted themselves to rally their discomfited troops and refill the breach; it was in vain that lieutenant Campbell, breaking through the tumultuous crowd with the survivors of his chosen detachment, mounted the ruins; twice he ascended, twice he was wounded, and all around him died. The royals endeavouring to retire got intermixed with the thirty-eighth, and with some companies of the ninth which had unsuccessfully endeavoured to pass them and get to the lesser breach. Then swayed by different impulses and pent up in the narrow way between the horn-work and the river, the mass reeling to and fro could neither advance nor go back until the shells and musquetry, constantly plied both in front and flank, had thinned the concourse and the trenches were regained in confusion. At daylight a truce was agreed to for an hour, during which the French, who had already humanely removed the gallant Jones and the other wounded men from the breach, now carried off the more distant sufferers lest they should be drowned by the rising of the tide.

Five officers of engineers including sir Richard Fletcher, and forty-four officers of the line with five hundred and twenty men, had been killed, wounded, or made prisoners in this assault the failure of which was signal, yet the causes were obvious and may be classed thus.

1º. Deviation from the original project of siege and from lord Wellington’s instructions.

2º. Bad arrangements of detail.

3º. Want of vigour in the execution.

In respect of the first, lord Wellington having visited the Chofre trenches on the 22d confirmed his former approval of Smith’s plan, and gave that officer final directions for the attack finishing thus, “Fair daylight must be taken for the assault.” These instructions and their emphatic termination were repeated by major Smith in the proper quarter, but they were not followed, no lodgement was made on the horn-work, the defences were nearly entire both in front and flank, and the assault was made in darkness. Major Smith had also, by calculation and by consultations with the fishermen, ascertained that the ebb of tide would serve exactly at day-break on the 24th; but the assault was made the 25th, and then before daylight, when the water being too high contracted the ground, increased the obstacles, and forced the assaulting column to march on a narrow front and a long line, making an uneasy progress and trickling onwards instead of dashing with a broad surge against the breach. In fine the rules of art being neglected and no extraordinary resource substituted the operation failed.