No record exists of the casualties, if any, of the 1st Battalion companies on this day.
The two 1st Battalion companies, which had landed with General Acland’s brigade, were immediately after the action transferred to General Fane’s brigade, where they joined the four 2nd Battalion companies.
As I am the historian not of the War but of the Regiment, I need only add that, owing to the evacuation of Portugal by Junot’s army, and the Convention of Cintra, the portion of the Corps in the Peninsula was not actively employed for some months.
But at the end of August, the three companies of the 1st Battalion, which had been to Sweden with Sir John Moore, and had been disembarked in the Mondego on the 28th, joined their comrades in camp at Torres Vedras. There were now, therefore, five companies of the 1st and four of the 2nd on active service.
Early in September the five 1st Battalion companies moved across the Tagus to Villa Viciosa, where they were quartered; and the four 2nd Battalion companies soon after drew towards Lisbon, and encamped near it. The French army had not yet embarked, and the best feeling existed between our men and their late opponents; Riflemen and French soldiers walking about the streets of Lisbon and drinking together in the wine-shops.
Sir John Moore soon after assumed the command of the army; and moved from before Lisbon at the end of October. The Riflemen, marching with the central division, under Moore himself, on the 27th, by way of Abrantes, crossed the frontier into Spain on November 12, and proceeded by Ciudad Rodrigo to Salamanca, where they arrived about the 13th.
Meanwhile, five companies of the 1st Battalion still at home, embarked, under Major Norman M’Leod, to join the other companies already in Portugal; and four of the remaining companies of the 2nd Battalion embarked at Harwich, under Colonel Wade. After a short detention at Falmouth, they sailed for Spain, and disembarked at Corunna on October 26.[55] They were attached to the force under the command of Sir David Baird, and the Riflemen of both Battalions formed the advanced guard. A day or two after landing they marched to Betanzos, and thence through Lugo, Villa Franca, and Cacabelos, to Astorga, which they reached on November 26. Already on this march they experienced great privations, owing to the defective arrangements of the Commissariat; and it was not until they reached Celada, a village a few miles in advance of Astorga, where they halted for some days, that they were sufficiently supplied with provisions. They were then sent forward to La Bañeza; but after a few days’ halt they were, on account of a report that the enemy were in force in their front, recalled to Celada. Hence, on account of the utter rout of the Spanish armies, under Palafox and Castaños, at Tudela, Moore ordered Baird’s force to retire again to Corunna; and they retreated, the Riflemen now forming the rear-guard and halting at Cacabelos, while the army moved on to Villa Franca. But after a few days, Baird’s force was again ordered forward; and the Riflemen, now again forming the advanced guard, moved up through Astorga and La Bañeza to Benevente, which they reached on December 15. They marched again on the 17th, through Valderas, Mayorga, and Sahagun, and reached the Convent of Trianon, about a league from the latter place, on the 20th.
The companies of Riflemen were here reunited with those already in the Peninsula; the five companies under Major M’Leod joining the five head-quarter companies of the 1st Battalion under Colonel Beckwith; and the four companies of the 2nd Battalion, under Major Travers, which had served at Roleia and Vimiera, uniting themselves to the head-quarter companies under Colonel Wade, which had come out with Sir David Baird. When these men met, a few miles from the Trianon Convent, the new comers gave a loud cheer to the ‘heroes of Portugal,’ as they called their comrades who had fought at Roleia and Vimiera; which was heartily returned.[56] The worn and sunburnt appearance of the one set of Riflemen contrasted strangely with the trim and neat look of the other. They were soon all to be alike in the tokens of toil, want and suffering. A new distribution of the army taking place, consequent on the junction of Moore’s and Baird’s forces, the 1st Battalion were attached to the reserve, under Sir Edward Paget; and the 2nd Battalion, with a battalion of the 43rd and one of the 52nd, formed a brigade under Brigadier-General Robert Craufurd.
I will first trace the services of this Battalion till their separation from Moore’s army. On the evening of December 23 the Battalion was called to arms, with a view it was believed of attacking Soult in his position on the Carrion. In a cold and bitter night they moved forward; but had not marched far when they were countermanded, and returned to the quarters at Trianon. Surtees records an instance of Craufurd’s severe and impartial discipline during this night march. An officer of the Battalion, who was unwell, in passing a brook, of which there were many on the road, left his section and went round it. Craufurd, who happened to be by, recalled him, and made him walk through and through it several times.[57] The retreat commenced on the 25th, in terrible weather and over ground covered with snow. On that night they fell back to Mayorga; and the next day, though they started early, the state of the ground they had to get over was such that they did not reach the village of San Miguel till midnight. The day following they marched to Castro Pipa, near Castro Gonzalo. Here there was a bridge, the passage of which Craufurd was to guard until the army, the stragglers and the baggage had passed over, and then to destroy it. During this operation, while half the brigade worked at its destruction, the other half held the enemy at bay; for his cavalry hovered all round and frequently attacked them, and the Riflemen had some smart skirmishing. At last, at midnight on the 28th, the brigade passed over in single file by planks laid over the broken arches, and fell back to Benevente.[58]