They held possession that night of an extensive knoll near the road by which the enemy had retired, and were under arms till morning, when they occupied the village of Obidos till the morning of the 17th.
Early on that day they advanced towards Roleia,[50] where, after a march of two or three hours, they found the enemy, under General Laborde, posted in a strong position on high ground, having Roleia and several passes into the mountains in his rear. The four companies formed part of General Fane’s brigade, which attacked the enemy’s position in front; but some were detached to cover the advance of General Ferguson’s brigade, which operated on the right of Laborde’s posts at Roleia. As soon as the army moved, the Riflemen of Fane’s brigade were sent into the hills on the left of the valley, in order to keep up the communication between the centre and the left columns, and to cover the advance of the former; and the enemy’s outposts were rapidly driven in. He was pressed by the attacking force in his front; Hill’s division advanced against his left, and the Riflemen were in the hills on his right. From this position he extricated himself by a rapid retreat by the passes into the mountains, where he took up a formidable position. The Riflemen were already on his right, and no time was lost in supporting them and attacking the different passes. These were all difficult of access, and it is well known that they were forced with great courage and impetuosity, especially by the 9th and 29th Regiments. Here, however, I have only to do with the part borne by the 95th; and their conduct during the day elicited the approval of Sir Arthur Wellesley. They were almost all young soldiers, and few of them had ever been under fire; yet, engaged with the French light troops during an intensely hot day, they succeeded in driving them before them from pass to pass, and mountain to mountain, in spite of a destructive fire from thick heath and brushwood, which hid their opponents from them. During this fight the Riflemen were fearfully galled by the fire from two houses which the French light troops occupied, and some high ground in front of the buildings gave them a further advantage. At last the Riflemen could stand it no longer; and one of them, jumping up and rushing forward, exclaimed, ‘Over, boys! over, over!’ In a moment every one of them was dashing forward, repeating the cry, ‘Over, over!’ and fixing their sword-bayonets as they ran up the rising ground. The voltigeurs could not stand this, but turned and fled; and the Riflemen soon entered and cleared out the houses. Their loss was 17 rank and file killed, and Captain Creagh and Lieutenants Hill and Cochrane, and 30 rank and file wounded. It was during this action that an incident occurred, which I give in Leach’s own words, who records it[51]:
‘Having driven the enemy from one of the highest mountains, and in the act of collecting our men on its summit to renew the attack on a second position to which they had retired, one of my brother officers, whilst holding his canteen to my mouth to give me some wine, well mulled by the sun, received a musket-shot through his hand and through the canteen, which latter it split, splashed my face thoroughly with wine, spoiled my draught, gave me a sharp blow, which cut my mouth, and spun me round like a top. For a few moments I concluded that I was wounded; but the mystery was soon explained by my seeing my friend on the ground bleeding profusely, and the broken canteen at his side. I sent a soldier with him to the rear; and notwithstanding that his wound was for a length of time afterwards painful and troublesome, we had the pleasure to see him rejoin us in a few weeks. A more gallant soldier, sincere friend, or a more independent, straightforward, manly fellow than Cochrane, never wore His Majesty’s uniform. In proof of the high estimation in which he was held by his Corps, suffice it to say, that his brother officers erected a monument to his memory in Ireland,[52] where he died a few years after the termination of the war in the Peninsula and Waterloo, in both of which he was actively engaged.’
On the 20th the two companies of the 1st Battalion which had embarked at Harwich, and had landed at Maceira on the day before, joined the army, which was then in position near Vimiera.
On the night of the 20th, a detachment of the 2nd Battalion, with some of the 60th, in all about 200 men, were on picquet in a large pine wood, on the road from Lourinha to Torres Vedras. About eight in the morning of the 21st, a cloud of light troops, followed by a strong column of the enemy, entering the wood, vigorously attacked this picquet and drove it in on the 97th, which was in support. As soon as the Riflemen had cleared the front of this regiment, passing by its right flank to the rear, the 97th poured a steady fire on the advancing column and held it in check, while the 52nd took it in flank and drove it back in confusion.[53] This picquet, on being driven in, rejoined the other 2nd Battalion companies. With this attack began the Battle of Vimiera. The Riflemen were soon assailed by a swarm of light troops, who covered the advance of large masses of infantry. These pressed on up the hill on which the Riflemen were posted, in spite of a deadly fire which they poured upon them; until, the Riflemen running in, the 50th received them with a destructive volley and a furious charge, which sent them, broken, down the hill in confusion, with the loss of seven guns and many prisoners. In this fight, three brothers of the name of Hart, privates in the 2nd Battalion, pressed on the French with such daring intrepidity, that Lieutenant Molloy, who himself was never far from his opponent in action, was obliged repeatedly to rebuke them: ‘D—n you!’ he cried, ‘keep back and get under cover. Do you think you are fighting with your fists, that you run into the teeth of the French!’
In the meanwhile the enemy were attacked in flank on our left by General Acland’s brigade, to which the two 1st Battalion companies were attached.
In his despatch of this victory and in General Orders Sir Arthur Wellesley particularly notices the valour and discipline of the 2nd Battalion of the 95th under Major Travers.[54]
In this battle the 2nd Battalion suffered severely; 3 sergeants and 34 rank and file having been killed; and Lieutenants Manners, Hill, James Johnson, William Cox, 3 sergeants, and 40 rank and file wounded. As they had left England about 400 strong, and had suffered at Obidos and Roleia, about one-fourth of their effective strength was put hors-de-combat at Vimiera.