On the 14th at dawn the Light Division advanced against the enemy, who was posted on ground presenting many obstacles near the village of Casal-Nova. Other divisions of the army were sent to turn the flanks, while the Light Division attacked Ney’s centre. The ground was much intersected with stone walls, which enabled the enemy to dispute every foot of ground. And this Battalion was skirmishing from early morning until night; but they drove the enemy from one post of advantage to another in spite of many checks, and eventually Ney’s rear-guard fell back upon the main body at Miranda de Corvo. Early in the day a section of one of the companies was thrown forward among the skirmishers, and some rising ground being in front, Kincaid was ordered to take a man with him and occupy it, and to give notice of any movements of the enemy. He and the man who accompanied him, John Rouse, an old Rifleman, on getting to the top, ensconced themselves behind two large stones; but every time Rouse put his rifle over the stone to get a shot, a shower of French bullets rattled near them. After several attempts he gave it up, observing, ‘There will be no moving among them till this shower ceases.’ Kincaid observes that ‘this was the hardest day’s fighting he had ever known.’
As the French were retreating before our skirmishers, one man was observed to remain behind, deliberately loading and firing. Costello covered him and shot him. On coming up with him, a French sergeant, who lay wounded beside him, said: ‘Hélas! vous avez tué mon pauvre frère.’ The cause of his having remained behind was evident; it was in the hope of protecting his wounded brother. Costello, much to his credit, as soon as the fighting was over, returned to look for the brothers; both were dead, stripped by camp-followers, by whom they had probably been murdered.
Major John Stewart was killed in this fight, and Lieutenant Strode received wounds of which he died. Stewart was a most admirable officer of light troops, skilful in handling them, experienced in outpost duty, and (after Beckwith’s example), while strictly maintaining discipline, never harassing the men with matters of minute detail. Strode, who was also an excellent officer, always carried a rifle in action, and in the accurate use of it he excelled.
This day’s fighting lasted till sunset, when the picquets of the 1st Battalion occupied the village of Illama, which had been set on fire by the French; and the officers and men of the picquets saved many of the inhabitants and their children, who were too exhausted from famine to extricate themselves, from perishing in their burning houses. Some, however, were only saved from one death to die, when brought out, from want and exhaustion. Lord Wellington, in his despatch, specially mentions the conduct of the Regiment and the names of Colonel Beckwith and Majors Gilmour and Stewart.
The Battalion on going over the field after the action found that they had been opposed by the French 95th Regiment; and many buttons with that number were cut off the coats of the killed and preserved as trophies.
On the morning of the 15th a thick fog prevented the army starting early in pursuit. When it cleared it was found that the enemy had evacuated their position, and the Battalion passed through Miranda de Corvo, which was in flames, having been set on fire by Marshal Ney’s rear-guard, which had occupied it the night before.
The Battalion were halted beyond the village on a gentle slope, when Lord Wellington rode up; and Beckwith took occasion in conversation with him to mention that the Battalion were suffering much from having outmarched their supplies, and that some of his men from want and weakness had been unable to keep up. The Commander-in-Chief at once told them that they should have the first rations that came up. The men were just setting about cooking some provisions they had found abandoned by the French, when they were ordered to fall in at once and advance. The truth is that Lord Wellington on going to the front had observed that the enemy were in a strong position behind the river Ceira, but had committed the fatal mistake of leaving the rear-guard under Ney in front of Foz d’Aronce on our side of the river, here crossed only by a narrow bridge. The Battalion at once attacked them, and after a short but hot engagement drove them over the river. By some mistake the bridge was destroyed before the whole of the rear-guard had passed; and these being hotly pressed, endeavoured to cross the river, and a large number of them were drowned in the attempt. It was almost dark before the action commenced and it was quite dark before it was ended. The Battalion occupied for the night the camping-ground thus suddenly vacated by the French rear-guard, and at their camp-fires resumed the cooking of their suppers which had been interrupted by the hasty advance from Miranda de Corvo; or, rather, they continued the cooking begun by the French, for they found their pots on the fire, and a good supply of biscuit.
In this affair Lieutenant M’Cullock was severely, and Kincaid slightly, wounded. The general orders of the 16th contain, besides expressions of approbation and thanks to the army in general, the following clause: ‘The Commander of the Forces requests the Commanding Officers of the 43rd, 52nd and 95th Regiments, to name a sergeant of each Regiment to be recommended for promotion to an ensigncy, as a testimony of the particular approbation of the Commander of the Forces of these three Regiments.’[94]
In compliance with this order, Sergeant Simpson, then acting Sergeant-Major, was recommended, and was appointed an Ensign in the 2nd (Queen’s) Regiment of Foot.
The 16th was a day of rest. The Light Division had outmarched their supplies; the men were fatigued and weak from hunger; and the bridge over the Ceira being destroyed Lord Wellington gave them a day’s halt.