The History of the Rifle Brigade (the Prince Consort's Own) Formerly the 95th

by William Henry Cope

On the afternoon of the 14th the Regiment marched from San Esteban, and encamped on the heights above Sumbilla.

On the 15th at daylight they marched down the Bidassoa, by a road which sometimes skirted its bank, and sometimes rose upon the mountain side over it. On getting near the bridge of Lezaca the enemy’s advanced post was discovered near it, on the heights of Sta. Barbara. And the 1st Battalion was ordered to dislodge them. They climbed the mountain slowly; for it was very steep, and they were obliged to husband their strength for the fight which might take place at the top. The French gave them some shots; but when they arrived on the crest, they quickly drove them down the other side. And as they stood on the top the Riflemen had a view of the enemy’s position; and of the Bidassoa, which here makes a sharp bend to the left, and flows thence through a rocky channel to the sea. Below them was the town of Vera and the road which, leading into France through Vera, is called La Puerta de Vera. To defend this pass the French had thrown up strong works. And here also the Riflemen looked, far to the left, upon the sea; and a simultaneous cheer burst forth at the sight of that ocean which seemed to connect them with their native land, and which, for some years, most of them had not seen.

The 43rd drove the enemy out of the town of Vera; but they still kept a picquet in some outhouses near it, and our picquets were posted in Vera. The Regiment encamped on the heights they had gained.

It remained in this position, furnishing the picquets, and keeping up the communication between the army under Sir Thomas Graham, which was besieging St. Sebastian, and that under Sir Rowland Hill, which was investing and covering Pamplona.

On July 25 Marshal Soult, who had assumed command of the French army, attacked the positions of Roncesvalles and Maya, with a view to raising the siege of Pamplona or throwing provisions into it; and after several hardly-contested fights had obliged Hill to fall back. It therefore became necessary for the Light Division also to retire, though the enemy in front made no sign of advancing. Accordingly on the 26th the Regiment marched from their encampment, and crossing the Bidassoa, and passing through Lezaca and Jansi, encamped for the night on high ground near Sumbilla.

They did not move from this till nightfall on the 27th, when they resumed their retrograde movement; and marching all night did not reach Zubieta (a march of only two leagues and-a-half) till after daylight. For the route was by mountain tracks and in the dark, and was accomplished with difficulty and fatigue. So dark and dangerous was the way, that at a stream on the road, which dashed down from the mountain side, a Corporal of the Regiment placed himself in mid-stream, and taking each passer by the hand guided him to the other side. On arrival at Zubieta, about a league to the right of San Esteban, their late quarter, they encamped for the day; and starting again at nine in the evening arrived at Salin next morning. This night march, though not so harassing as the last, for the road was less difficult, was yet not free from danger. For Lieutenant William Eeles, the Adjutant of the 3rd Battalion, having had his cap knocked off by the bough of a tree, in endeavouring to catch it as it fell, pulled his horse off the road, and both rolled down a precipitous declivity. Fortunately it was not very deep; and horse and man were recovered unhurt. At Salin they encamped for the day. And on the 30th proceeded by a long march, by day, to Lecumberri, and were moved into a wood à cheval on the great road from Pamplona to Bayonne, and about equidistant from the former and Tolosa. They were again to keep up the communication between Hill’s corps and that before St. Sebastian; and also to bar the way to any of the enemy’s troops which might move by that road. During the last few days they had heard heavy firing in the direction of Pamplona, but were without intelligence of the result of the fight. But late on the 31st, their anxiety was relieved by the arrival of a staff officer, who informed them of the complete defeat and repulse of the French in the battles of the Pyrenees; and who also conveyed orders that they were to advance over the ground by which they had retired. Wherefore, falling in on the evening of that day, they marched to Larissa and encamped there.

On the 1st August they marched early, and passing by Esema, Zubieta and Irurlia, heard that they were to push forward to intercept the retreat of the French. They proceeded by a mountainous and rough road, under a burning sun, and about three o’clock reached some high ground on the left bank of the Bidassoa. It was a long march and the heat was oppressive. They had marched about thirty miles, when, about three o’clock, they arrived on the heights overhanging the river near the bridge of Jansi. Then the knowledge that they were near the enemy revived the spirits of the wearied Riflemen; and declaring that they ‘would knock the dust out of their hairy knapsacks,’ the 1st Battalion descended the hill on the left, while the 3rd Battalion held a wood above. Then the disordered column of the enemy was seen approaching on the opposite bank, faint and weary; and the 1st Battalion, concealed among the brushwood at the foot of the hill, received them with a raking fire. Many, pointing to the wounded who were borne with them, by their gestures implored quarter, and the generous Riflemen withheld their fire, and called to one another to spare them. Yet many, as they passed, fired at our men, but without much effect; for they were so effectually concealed in the brushwood, that the flash of their rifles was the only guide for the aim of the enemy. Thus pursued by the 4th Division, they had to pass this fiery ordeal. Some throwing off their knapsacks, and casting away their arms, strove to climb a hill on their right; but it was inaccessible; and on the hill-side the fire of our men picked them off. Then they pushed some light troops across the river, who became engaged with the 3rd Battalion; but they were soon driven down, and across the bridge. In the evening two of our companies got possession of the bridge, and then the rear of the column had to pass in front of their fire. At last they got a battalion into line behind a stone wall beyond the river; this somewhat checked our fire, and the remainder of the flying enemy passed with less loss. Yet arms, knapsacks, baggage and wounded were abandoned.

In this affair the Regiment lost but few men. Captain William Percival of the 3rd Battalion was wounded, being at the very close of the day shot through the right wrist. The left hand had been before contracted by a wound in that wrist; and he was also lame from a wound in the hip.

This day’s march was most fatiguing, being made under a hot sun, and with frequent want of water. The whole distance was about eight leagues; and considering that it was made in the heat of an August sun, and that at the end of the march the men had four or five hours’ hard fighting, it may hold its place with the famous march from Calzada to Talavera. Napier gives a frightful picture of the sufferings of the men. It was said that 200 men of one regiment of the second brigade of the Light Division fell out. But the Riflemen had a resolution to excel; and many held on till they died. Yet when the roll of the 3rd Battalion was called just before the fight began, only nine men were absent.

On the 2nd, the 1st and 3rd Battalions moved after the French by the road to the pass of Vera; the 2nd Battalion by Jansi and Lezaca; and the Regiment took up the line of picquets it had held a week before without firing a shot. On the march they met Lord Wellington, who, in recognition of their long march and hard fight of the day before, honoured them with an approving nod and smile, which much pleased the soldiers.