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Updated: June 4, 2025
A position was selected which gave cover and concealment to the troops, and against which the powerful artillery of a more numerous enemy was practically useless. These were the characteristics of Vimiera, Busaco, Talavera, and Waterloo. Nor did Jackson's orders differ from those of the great Englishman. The Duke's subordinates, when placed in position, acted on a well-established rule.
Henry made a timely retreat; the professor showed fight, and came off second best, with his mantle torn. 20th. Coimbra to Mealhada, then to Luso, and walked to Busaco. Convent of Busaco. Scene of battle. Mr. Cruikshank met us at the station, and drove Henry in his dog-cart; Hopie and I, with our bags, went in the char-a-banc which had been procured from Aveiro.
Upon the opposite side of this ravine the slope was as steep and sharp as that of Busaco itself, so that the opposite crest was within easy cannon shot. The enemy, in order to attack the British position, would have to descend into the bottom of this steep ravine, and then climb up the precipitous ascent, to meet the British soldiers awaiting them, fresh and unshaken, at the top.
Owing to these repeated disappointments of Lord Wellington's plans, we were again obliged to fall back into the valley of the Mondego, crossing that river and taking up our position on the heights of Busaco, situate about six leagues north-east of Coimbra.
The most were on the broad grin, but there were some on either side who looked black and challenging, especially the English sergeant and my own sub-officer Papilette. They were men of habit, you see, who could not change all their ways of thinking in a moment. Besides, Papilette had lost his only brother at Busaco.
The difficulties we encountered were nothing out of the usual course of old campaigners; but, untrained and unprovided as I was, I still looked back upon the twelve or fourteen days following the battle of Busaco as the most trying I have ever experienced, for we were on our legs from daylight until dark, in daily contact with the enemy; and, to satisfy the stomach of an ostrich, I had, as already stated, only a pound of beef, a pound of biscuit, and one glass of rum.
We arrived at Busaco about the centre of September, and on the 26th our line was formed. Our division, under General Cole, occupied the extreme left of the line, looking down on a flat country, where the British cavalry were drawn up in reserve. The divisions of Generals Hill, Leith, and Picton occupied the right of our line, with the first division, commanded by Sir Bryant Spencer, in the centre.
They fought such battles to gain time, and their hopes soared no higher. At Talavera, Busaco, Fuentes d'Onor, where the French were superior to the allies, Wellington repulsed the attack, but he did not prevent the defeated armies taking the field again in a few days.
The soldiers were exasperated at this unforeseen obstacle raised by the hand of man, and of which no one had penetrated the secret. "We shall succeed, as we should have succeeded at Busaco, if we had been allowed to," said the troops. Massena judged otherwise.
They lay across the whole Peninsula, and our army was so far from home that we did not dare to risk a reverse, and we had already learned at Busaco that it was no child's play to fight against these people. What could we do, then, but sit down in front of these lines and blockade them to the best of our power?
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