BATTLE OF FUENTES D’ONOR. 5th. May, 1811.

At this period the sixth division of the British army had invested Almeida, and a force of British and Portuguese, under Marshal Beresford, was employed in the Alentejo and Spanish Estremadura, which compelled the enemy to abandon Campo Mayor. Olivenza was next besieged by Marshal Beresford, and retaken on the 15th. of April, 1811, after which he broke ground before Badajoz.

Marshal Massena had reached Ciudad Rodrigo on the 25th. 118of April, and having concentrated his forces, crossed the Agueda at that place on the 2nd. of May, and advanced towards the allied army, posted between that river and the Coa, in order to blockade Almeida, which place, it was ascertained, was but ill supplied with provisions for its garrison. Upon the approach of the French, the British light division and cavalry fell back upon Fuentes d’Onor, where three other divisions were posted, and in which position Viscount Wellington determined to receive the attack of the enemy.

The village of Fuentes d’Onor, (Fountain of Honor,) is situated on low ground, at the bottom of a ravine, with an old chapel and some buildings on a craggy eminence, which overhang one end. Shortly after the enemy had formed on the ground, on the right of the Duas Casas, in the afternoon of the 3rd., they attacked the village with a large force, which was gallantly defended by Lieutenant-Colonel Williams, of the fifth battalion of the 60th. regiment, in command of the light infantry battalions, belonging to Major-General Picton’s division, supported by the light infantry battalion in Major-General Nightingall’s brigade, commanded by Major (afterwards Sir Robert) Dick, and the light infantry battalion in Major-General Howard’s brigade, commanded by Major Archibald M‘Donnell, of the 92nd. regiment, and the light infantry battalion of the King’s German Legion, commanded by Major Charles Aly, of the fifth battalion of the Line, and by the second battalion of the 83rd. regiment, under Major Henry William Carr.

These troops maintained their position, but the British commander seeing the repeated efforts which were made to obtain possession of the village, and being fully aware of the advantage the enemy would derive therefrom in their subsequent operations, the place was reinforced successively by the 71st., under the Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel Cadogan, and the 79th. under Lieutenant-Colonel Cameron, and the 24th. under Major Chamberlaine. The former, at the head of the 71st., charged the French, and drove them from the part of the village of which they had obtained momentary possession. About this time Lieutenant-Colonel Williams was wounded, and the command devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel Cameron, of the 79th. regiment. The contest continued until night, when the British Troops 119remained in possession of the whole. The light infantry battalions and the 83rd. regiments were subsequently withdrawn, leaving only the 71st. and 79th. regiments in the village, with the second battalion of the 24th to support them.

During the 4th. of May the enemy reconnoitred the positions which the British had occupied on the Duas Casas river, and that night General Junot’s corps was moved from Almeida to the left of the position occupied by the sixth corps, opposite to Fuentes d’Onor. From the course of the reconnoissance it was considered that an attempt would be made to obtain possession of that place, and of the ground occupied by the troops behind the village, by crossing the Duas Casas at Poza Velho, and in the evening the seventh division, under Major-General Houstoun, was moved to the right, in order to protect, if possible, that passage.

On the morning of Sunday, the 5th. of May, the eighth corps appeared in two columns, with all the cavalry on the opposite side of the valley of the Duas Casas to Poza Velho; and as the sixth and ninth corps also made a movement to their left, the light division, which had been brought back from the neighbourhood of Almeida, was sent with the cavalry, under Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton, Bart., (afterwards Field-Marshal Viscount Combermere, G.C.B.) to support Major-General Houstoun, while the first and third divisions made a movement to their right, along the ridge between the Turon and Duas Casas rivers, corresponding to that of the sixth and ninth corps, on the right of the latter river.

Major-General Houstoun’s advanced guard, consisting of the 85th., under Major M‘Intosh, and the 2nd Portuguese Caçadores, under Lieutenant-Colonel Nixon, was attacked by the eighth corps, and compelled to retire, which was done in good order, although with some loss. The eighth corps being thus established in Poza Velho, the enemy’s cavalry turned the right of the seventh division between that place and Nave d’Aver, and charged.

The charge of the advanced guard of the French cavalry was met by two or three squadrons of the different regiments of British Dragoons, and the enemy was driven back, Colonel La Motte, of the 13th. Chasseurs, and some prisoners being taken. The main body was checked, and obliged to retire, by the fire of Major-General Houstoun’s division, the Chasseurs Britanniques 120and a detachment of the Duke of Brunswick’s Light Infantry behaving in the most steady manner. Notwithstanding the repulse of this charge, Viscount Wellington determined to concentrate his force towards the left, and to move the seventh light and the other two divisions, and the cavalry from Poza Velho towards Fuentes d’Onor. The former place and neighbourhood had been occupied in the hope of maintaining the communication across the Coa by Sabugal, as well as to provide for the blockade, which objects, it became obvious, were incompatible with each other, and that which was deemed the least important was abandoned; the light division was placed in reserve in the rear of the left of the first, and the seventh on some commanding ground beyond the Turon, which protected the right flank and rear of the first division, besides covering the communication with the Coa, and prevented that of the French with Almeida by the roads between the Turon and that river.

Upon this occasion the movement of the troops, although under very critical circumstances, was well conducted by Major-General Houstoun, Brigadier-General Craufurd, and Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton. The seventh division was covered in its passage of the Turon by the light, under Brigadier-General Craufurd, and this last, in its march to join the first division, by the British cavalry. The British position thus extended on the high ground from the Turon to the Duas Casas. The seventh division on the left of the former, covered the rear of the right; the first division, in two lines, was on the right; Colonel Ashworth’s brigade, in two lines, in the centre; and the third division, in two lines, on the left. The light division and British cavalry in reserve; and the village of Fuentes d’Onor in front of the left. Don Julian’s infantry joined the seventh division in Frenada, and he was sent with his cavalry to endeavour to interrupt the enemy’s communication with Ciudad Rodrigo. The efforts on the right part of the British position, after it was occupied as above described, were confined to a cannonade, and to some cavalry charges upon the advanced posts.

One of these was repulsed by the pickets of the first division, under Lieutenant-Colonel Hill, of the 3rd. regiment of Guards; but as they were falling back, they did not see the direction 121of another in sufficient time to oppose it, and the Lieutenant-Colonel was taken prisoner, many men were wounded and some captured, before a detachment of the British cavalry could move up to their support. The second battalion of the 42nd., under Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Blantyre, also repulsed a charge of the cavalry directed against them. They likewise attempted to push a body of light infantry down the ravine of the Turon to the right of the first division, which was repulsed by the light infantry of the Guards, under Lieutenant-Colonel Guise, aided by five companies of the 95th., under Captain O’Hara.

Throughout this day the enemy’s principal effort was again directed against Fuentes d’Onor, and notwithstanding that the whole of the sixth corps was at different periods employed to attack this village, the French were never able to gain more than a temporary possession. It was defended by the 24th., 71st., and 79th. regiments, under the command of Colonel Cameron; these troops were supported by the light infantry battalions in the third division, commanded by Major Woodgate; the light infantry battalions in the first division, commanded by Majors Dick, M‘Donnell, and Aly; the 6th. Portuguese Caçadores, commanded by Major Pinto; by the light companies in Colonel Champelmond’s Portuguese brigade, under Colonel Sutton; and those in Colonel Ashworth’s Portuguese brigade, under Lieutenant-Colonel Pynn; and by the pickets of the third division, under the command of the Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel Trench. Lieutenant-Colonel Cameron was severely wounded in the afternoon, and the command in the village devolved upon the Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel Cadogan.

In addition to the foregoing, the troops in Fuentes d’Onor were supported, when pressed by the enemy, by the 74th. regiment, under Major Russell Manners, and the 88th. Connaught Rangers, under Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace, belonging to Colonel Mac Kinnon’s brigade; on one of these occasions the 88th., with the 71st. and 79th., under the command of Colonel Mac Kinnon, charged the enemy, and drove them through the village.

This prolonged contest again lasted in this quarter until night, when the British still held their post, and from that time there was no fresh attempt made on any part of their position. Although the actions were partial, yet they were very severe, and the casualties were also. The enemy had a great superiority of force, and their loss was likewise great; they left four hundred killed in the village of Fuentes d’Onor.

The following regiments were engaged at Fuentes d’Onor:—14th. and 16th. Light Dragoons; the 24th., 42nd., 43rd., 45th., 52nd., 60th., 71st., 74th., 79th., 83rd., 85th., 88th., 92nd., and Rifle Brigade.

On the 8th. of May the enemy retired to the woods between Espeja, Gallegos, and Fuentes d’Onor, in which position the whole army was collected by the following day, with the exception of that part of the second corps which continued opposite Almeida; but during the night of the 9th. the whole broke up and retired across the Azava, covering their retreat by their numerous cavalry, and on the following day the whole crossed the Agueda, leaving Almeida to its fate.

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Medal for Busaco and Fuentes d’Onor.

The customary medal was granted for the above battles, the pattern being like that for the other actions in the Peninsula. The following letter from Viscount Wellington to the Earl of Liverpool, dated July 11th., 1811, gives his views regarding the distribution of medals:—

“I have had the honour of receiving your Lordship’s letter of the 22nd of June, in which your Lordships desires to have my opinion as to the restrictions which it may be expedient to put upon the grant of medals to British officers, for distinguished merit displayed upon such occasions as the battles of Vimeiro, Corunna, Talavera, and Barrosa.

“My opinion has always been, that the grant of a medal to an individual officer ought to have been founded originally, partly on the importance of the occasion or action which it was intended to commemorate, and partly on the share which the individual officer had had in the action to be commemorated; and that medals should have been granted for important actions only, and to those engaged in them in a conspicuous manner, whatever might be their rank in the service. It was decided, however, that medals should be granted on the same principle only, but following strictly the example of the grant of medals to the navy, notwithstanding 123that an action on shore is very different from an action at sea; and the merit of the different classes of individuals is likewise entirely different. At the same time, this principle was departed from in some of the grants made.

“If the principle adopted in the grant of medals to the navy is adhered to in the grant of medals to officers of the army, and that medals, to be granted to general officers, and Lieutenant-Colonels commanding regiments, on an occasion to be commemorated, because, on a similar occasion, they would be granted to Admirals and Captains of ships of the line, it is difficult to restrict the grant or make a selection of officers to whom they should be granted to commemorate the battles at Busaco and Fuentes d’Onor, if government determine that these actions should be commemorated in that manner. If, however, that principle is departed from, it is not difficult to make out a list of the names of officers already reported to your Lordship, who were at the head of corps or detachments upon these occasions, and who had a conspicuous share in the event which it is the intention of the government to commemorate in this manner. It is not probable, however, that the adoption of this principle will decrease the number of those to whom the honour would be granted; but, as I have already represented to your Lordship, I don’t think this important; that which is important in the establishment of the principle on which the grant of this honour should be made, is that every officer should feel that he shall receive the mark of distinction, if he should be in the place to distinguish himself, and should act in the manner to deserve to be distinguished, whatever may be his military rank. It may be contended for by me, that the officers of the British army don’t require an honour of this description to stimulate their exertions, and that the grant of the medal is therefore useless; but, however, those who contend for this principle must admit that a selection of those who have had an opportunity of distinguishing themselves in an action is a less objectionable mode of granting it than the grant of it by classes, whether the individuals composing those classes have distinguished themselves or not.

“I have now the honour to enclose lists of the names of the officers who, on the principle of selection, ought, in my opinion, to receive medals for the battles of Busaco and Fuentes d’Onor, if government think proper to distinguish these battles by medals. In respect to the battle of Albuhera, I was not there, and I am not able to give an opinion upon it. One brigade of the fourth division of infantry, however, was not in the action, nor Brigadier-General Madden’s brigade of cavalry. The brunt of the action was on the right; but some of the corps of infantry, I believe, and certainly General Otway’s brigade of cavalry, on the left, were not engaged. At all events, these troops were not engaged, as far as I understand, in a greater degree than the whole army were at Busaco, and every corps on the field at Fuentes d’ Onor.

“I mention these circumstances only to point out to your Lordship, that in every action on shore, however severe, there must be some to whose lot it does not fall to have an opportunity to distinguish themselves; and that the principle of selection, without reference to ranks, ought to be adopted in every instance of the grant of medals to the army.”

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