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Dudley joins the fight for the Peninsula
Dudley Hill returned home from South America
before the end of 1807 with the remains of the
detachment, and in the summer of 1808 embarked
with four companies of his battalion, on the
expedition to Portugal against the French, under
the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley (later the
Duke of Wellington). Landing in Mondego Bay on
the 1st August, he was present with the advance
throughout the short campaign that followed,
north of Lisbon, and took part in the affair at
Obidos and the battles of Roliça (slightly
wounded in the leg) and Vimeiro.
With the same companies and in command of one of
them, he served in the subsequent campaign
(1808-09) under Sir John Moore, including the
advance into northwest Spain; the action at the
Esla River near Benavente on 29th
December 1808 where he commanded a company; and
the retreat through the Provinces of León and
Galicia to Vigo, where he embarked for England
as a consequence of his wounds.
The retreat to Corunna23
Both the first and second battalions of the 95th
Rifle Regiment took part in the Corunna retreat.
The 1st/95th
formed part of Paget’s reserve division and
stayed with the main army under Moore. The 2nd
/95th
formed part of Robert Craufurd’s 1st
Light Brigade. At Astorga, during the retreat,
the light brigades were detached from the main
body of the army and sent to Vigo. This was in
part to safeguard the army from attack on its
southern flank, and to ease the strain on the
commissariat’s resources.
The men of both battalions suffered severe
privations on the retreat from lack of food and
shelter, from the cold and the constant
exhausting marching in mountainous terrain.
Riflemen's uniforms and accoutrements suffered
accordingly. William Green and John Harris both
of the 95th
later recalled many incidents of the retreat,
which illustrated how the uniforms and equipment
gradually degenerated in appearance or were lost
as the retreat progressed.
Green on his way to Corunna noted how he was
ordered by his Colonel, "to throw away our
knapsack, but keep either the great coat, or
blanket, which we chose. We did not mind parting
with our kits, our orders must be obeyed, so we
left them by the roadside. But we had enough to
carry; fifty round of ball cartridge, thirty
loose balls in our waist belt, and a flask, and
a horn of powder, and rifle and sword, the two
weighing 14 pounds. These were plenty for us to
carry."
In
contrast to Green, Rifleman Harris, who marched,
staggered, fell and eventually stumbled to Vigo,
cursed his knapsack, having been given no order
to abandon it. "Our knapsacks too, were a bitter
enemy... many a man died, I am convinced, who
would have borne up well to the end of the
retreat but for the infernal load we carried on
our backs. The knapsacks, in my opinion, should
have been abandoned at the very commencement of
the retrograde...by such loss, we could have
saved the poor fellows, who, as it was, died
strapped to them on the road".
While Harris struggled under the weight of his
knapsack, Green dealt with a uniquely different
mishap, he had the misfortune to fall down a
well. This accident resulted in the loss of his,
"hat, cap, and forage cap, and the lock cap of
my rifle, and my sword was broke in the scabbard
by the fall". After being rescued he saw, "a
glazed hat tied on one of the mules, I asked my
comrade to lend me his knife, when I cut the
string and put the hat on, but it was so large
it came over my eyes, I padded it with some
grass, and it did very well". Green was not the
only person with non regulation headgear, Harris
remarked on, “Sir Dudley Hill passing on a
mule...He wore a Spanish straw-hat", whilst many
others were "bare headed...some with their heads
tied up in old rags and fragments of
handkerchiefs".
Return to the war
The
fort of Badajoz in Spain
In
June 1809, Dudley Hill returned to Portugal with
the 1st
Battalion of the 95th;
part of the celebrated Light Brigade under Major
General Craufurd. They moved to join the main
army under Wellesley, and took part in the
famous forced march (100km in twenty-six hours
in the height of the Spanish summer), which
brought the Light Brigade to the field of
Talavera de la Reina on the morning of 29th
July 1809, unfortunately 12 hours too late to
share in the great victory of the preceding day.
He subsequently accompanied his Battalion in the
retirement to Portugal and in Wellesley's second
advance into Spain in the following year, and
was present at the various minor engagements and
skirmishes the Rifles were engaged in, including
the action of the Côa near Almeida on the 24th
July 1810.
On
the 16th
August 1810, he was promoted to the rank of
Captain in the Royal West India Rangers. The
Royal West India Rangers were formed from
European soldiers drafted in from the Royal
Africa Corp in 1806 and later convicts were
recruited from British prisons as well as French
prisoners of war who wanted to escape
imprisonment. In the following month, he was
appointed to the Loyal Lusitanian (Portuguese)
Legion, with the rank of Major in the Portuguese
Army. He commanded the left wing of the 2nd
Battalion of the Legion at the battle of Buçaco
on the 27th
September 1810, where he was slightly wounded,
in the retirement to the Lines of Torres Vedras,
and in the defence of the lines in the winter of
1810-11. At this time, he also commanded the
British light companies of the Brigade, to which
the Legion was attached, in many skirmishes with
the enemy.
He
also took part in the advance into Spain in the
spring of 1811. In the command of the Lusitanian
Legion and the British light companies of the
Brigade, he was prominently engaged in the
battle of Fuentes de Oñoro on the 3rd
to
5th
May 1811.
The 8th
Caçadores
The Legion was broken up later in 1811 and
Dudley was attached temporarily to the 95th,
with which he served at the siege and capture of
Ciudad Rodrigo from 8th
to
the19th
January 1812. Immediately after the capture of
this fortress, he was appointed to the command
of the 8th
Caçadores (Portuguese Light Infantry – the
Hunters) which was created from the 2nd
Battalion of the Loyal Lusitanian Legion. He
remained with the Caçadores for the rest of his
Peninsula service. He commanded this Corp at the
siege and storm of Badajoz on the 7th
April 1812, and unassisted by any other troops,
took the strong fortress of Pardaleras, on the
night of the assault. He so greatly
distinguished himself in the attack as to win
special mention in Lord Wellington's despatch,
in consequence of which he was promoted to the
rank of Major 95th
Regiment by brevet on the 27th
April 1812.
He
also commanded the Corp at the battle of
Salamanca on the 22nd
July 1812 (where he was severely wounded in the
breast by a shell and a musket shot through the
centre of the arm) and took possession of the
last hill position of the enemy. He next served
at the siege of Burgos in October 1812, and in
the retreat from that place to Portugal. On the
25th
October during the retreat, he defended the
passage of the Carrión River for 8 hours against
a whole brigade of French infantry for the loss
of half of his troops killed, but was eventually
forced to retreat from a lack of ammunition. In
this action he was wounded and taken prisoner,
but he soon after escaped and rejoined the
remnants of his regiment.
In
the following year, he commanded the Corp at the
battle of Vitoria on 21st
June and formed the advance of the left column
of the army: and was particularly distinguished
and mentioned in despatches. He was also
promoted Lieutenant Colonel 95th
Regiment by brevet on the 21st
June 1813. He was engaged during the whole
period of the siege and capture of San Sebastián
on the 8th
September 1813, in which he headed the attack of
the 5th
Division and received two wounds to the body.
Finally in 1814, he commanded the Corp at the
investment of Bayonne, in France, and in the
repulse of the sortie from that place on the 14th
April, which was the last action of the
Peninsula war. Including a wound at Bayonne, he
was wounded 8 times during the course of the
war.
From
the battle record of the 8th Caçadores
|
Origin |
Loyal
Lusitanian Legion |
|
Historical |
Formed with 2nd battalion of light
infantry of the Loyal Lusitanian Legion,
published in the Order of the Army of
4th May of 1811. Assignments: Battalion
of Hunters of Trancoso. The battalion
was recruited in Beira. |
|
Commander |
Sir Dudley St. Leger Hill, Major 26
September 1810 and Lieutenant-Colonel 28
January 1813 |
|
Battles |
|
|
Combat Póvoa de Lanhoso |
20 March 1809 |
|
Defence Port |
26-29 of March of 1809 |
|
Battle Fuentes de Oñoro |
5 May 1811 |
|
Small farm Badajoz |
16 March -7 April of 1812 |
|
Assault Badajoz |
6 April 1812 |
|
Assault Fort of São
Cristóvão de Badajoz |
7 April 1812 |
|
Small farm Forts of
Salamanca |
17-27 June 1812 |
|
Combat Caniçal |
19 July 1812 |
|
Battle Salamanca |
22 July 1812 |
|
Combat Valladolid |
7 September 1812 |
|
Small farm Castle of
Burgos |
19 September -31 October
1812 |
|
Combat Carrion |
25 October 1812 |
|
Combat S. Muñoz |
17 November 1812 |
|
Combat Osma |
18 June 1813 |
|
Battle Vitoria |
21 June 1813 |
|
Small farm Square of San
Sebastian |
9 July-31 August 1813 |
Source: Rodney Kerr c.2010
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