George Simmons

“ We had no means of keeping off the swarms of insects, and the slow pace that the bullocks went, made us feel the vertical rays of the sun with redoubled force. We had some salt meat as rations, which, in the feverish state of our existence, we turned from with disgust; we very seldom got bread, generally biscuit, and that full of worms or mouldy; we were hurried away daily to the rear as fast as possible in order that our army, if pressed by the enemy, should not have us on the line of its march to impede its progress to the rear. ”

“ Our gallant commander, Lord Wellington, I am sorry to perceive, has already enemies at home; they are illiberal rascals that can think only of puffing forth such falsities. The old adage, "Great men have many enemies." I may confidently say that every soldier entertains the highest opinion of his Lordship, and if we face the French, where there is any possibility for a general to lead on his army with credit to himself, he certainly is the man to perform it.
I am sorry to find our army in Flushing has not succeeded in the grand attack intended upon Antwerp and carrying off the fleet. ”

“ Thousands dead and dying in every direction, horses, men, French and English, in whole lines who had cut each other down, and, I am sorry to say, the Spaniards butchering the wounded Frenchmen at every opportunity, and stripping them naked, which gave admission to the attacks of myriads of pernicious flies and the heat of a burning sun. ”

“ Massena begins to feel that entering a country with an army disposed to commit every description of brutal atrocity upon the unarmed inhabitants, and driving them like wild beasts to their fastnesses (which, from the nature of this country, abounds with such ground) , has already kindled the spirit of revenge in their hearts. This has obliged the French to keep together, and they literally only have in possession the ground that their army for the moment occupies, and has also caused severe losses, for any straggler or sick man, unless he has an escort, is sure to be stabbed with the stiletto. ”

“ The enemy's infantry formed line and, with an innumerable multitude of skirmishers, attacked us fiercely; we repulsed them; they came on again, yelling, with drums beating, frequently the drummers leading, often in front of the line, French officers like mountebanks running forward and placing their hats upon their swords, and capering about like madmen, saying, as they turned to their men, "Come on, children of our country. The first that advances, Napoleon will recompense him." Numbers returned to the attack. ”

“ I am only a poor soldier; with my sword I must defend myself, and I am proud to say I have often drawn it in the defence of my country, and as yet, thank God, it is untarnished. I have no fears that, while I live, it will be ever so. I have as bright a prospect as most men in my profession—my brother the same. ”

“ I believe his regiment will go to the East Indies from here. If I escape from Portugal with a whole skin I think of going to the West Indies for promotion. As I have commenced to soldier, I must fight for promotion as a soldier, and everything I have yet seen are trifles compared to what I have often experienced in England. Oh! father, when the mind is at ease, a fig for the body! Danger is merely ideal to a man of spirit. ”

“ No music is so delicious to the ear of a soldier. We moved forward under a heavy fire from the enemy's works without ever exchanging a shot until we got up to them and scaled the walls. Then the work of death commenced. Johnny was so paralysed at the cool bravery of the British that he instantly became panic-struck and ran in every direction. Some few who had the temerity to stand were instantly no more. I saw some heroic officers who tried to rally their men. ”

“ The Spaniards are astonished at us remaining idle, as they term it, and allowing the French to invest their town, consequently they have no high opinion of our valour. The young women, with whom we joke and talk, make no scruple in calling us cowards, and say if we fought as well as we eat and drink wine, we should be fine fellows indeed. These observations are very galling, and people who are not conversant with military movements might easily imagine we do not attack the enemy from fear. ”

“ The Horse Artillery and Royal Dragoons came up with the French rear-guard and harassed it. We passed several of the enemy's killed and wounded men upon the road as we advanced. The unfortunate inhabitants that have remained in their villages have the appearance of people who have been kicked out of their graves and reanimated, and the sight of them rouses the fiercest passions within us, and will make us, when we come up with the enemy, take ample vengeance upon them for their unheard-of and disgusting cruelties to this unfortunate nation. ”

“ The French followed us, the wounded were all taken prisoners, and, I am happy to say, used very well. The French are a brave and generous enemy, and their humanity to the English prisoners is generous to the extreme.
We have once more arrived in Portugal, after a tedious march and under the continual expectation of having a battle with the French army, sometimes being only two miles distant from them, and frequently on piquet within gunshot of each other, though as yet I have never had the honour of being fired at. ”

“ I looked with sorrow at the poor inhabitants, heaving a sigh, expressing at the same time delight and confidence that the happy shores of Britain would never be cursed with these detestable monsters while her gallant sons are ready to lay down their lives with eagerness in defence of the most happy land in the universe. May England ever fight her battles in a foreign land! O happy, happy country! you are ignorant of the miseries and wretchedness that one-half of Europe is continually exposed to, and may you ever enjoy the same happiness! ”

“ At this time the enemy were surrounding us in every direction. Captain O'Hare called out, "We will never retire. Here we will stand. They shall not pass but over my body." The shots flew round us as thick as hailstones, and they were advancing upon us, but we kept up a terrible fire. The moon showed sufficiently to let us see their numbers. I saw French officers beating their men with their swords to make them try to drive us from the rocks we occupied, and several letting their muskets fall and clapping their hands upon their sides or arms when they had received a wound and scampering. ”

“ Lieutenant Kincaid [17] passed with me through a gap in a hedge. We jumped from it at the same moment that a Portuguese Grenadier, who was following, received a cannon shot through his body and came tumbling after us. Very likely during the day a person might have a thousand much more narrow escapes of being made acquainted with the grand secret, but seeing the mangled body of a brave fellow so shockingly mutilated in an instant, stamps such impressions upon one's mind in a manner that time can never efface. A man named Muckston laid hold of a French officer in the river and brought him out. ”

“ If the young officer had been a quizzical fellow and thought of telling some tales to any other officers, it would have produced amusement, and, why then, what must have been the consequences? I should have instantly called him out, and the result either to one or the other must have proved serious. A soldier's honour is as sacred as a woman's virtue. ”

“ As our men were lying down in column just behind the line of the 1st Division, ready to be [171] slipped at anything that might be thought necessary, a body of French cavalry menaced a charge upon our guns and came up in the boldest manner, receiving repeated discharges of grape-shot, that literally made lanes through them. Finding it of no use, the cavalry moved off. The enemy, not being able to make any impression upon our right, attacked the village of Fuentes de Oñoro with great vigour, continually bringing up more men to the assistance of those engaged. ”

“ The people in general are dirty in the extreme, their houses never whitewashed, and, stink worse than an English pig-sty. All the nastiness is thrown out of windows in the evening, and, having no scavengers to sweep the streets, you may judge the state of them in some measure; and in hot weather it is very offensive to the nose of an Englishman. I went to see several churches, which afforded me some amusement and excited my pity, to see a people, through ignorance and gross superstition, duped by a set of worthless priests under the plea of religion. ”

“ Oh, happy England! may such scenes as these ever be unknown to my countrymen! The French are certainly the greatest curse the Almighty ever sent into the world. Universal conquest and ruin of everything sacred and binding between man and man is their sole aim. I hope their career will be checked sooner or later; they have long reigned almost uncontrolled.
On the 17th and 18th we continued marching after the enemy, taking occasionally a few stragglers and sick. On the 20th the enemy halted and began to throw up breast-works and abatis along a high ridge in front of Santarem ”

“ The enemy now finding the castle in our possession, and also finding the British entering another part of the town by escalade, were obliged to oppose them with a greater part of their force. I was lying upon the grass by my comrades, having the most gloomy thoughts of the termination of this sad affair, when a staff officer rode up and said, "Lord Wellington orders the Light Division to return immediately and attack the breaches." We moved back to this bloody work as if nothing had happened. Never were braver men congregated together for such a purpose. ”

“ The water dashing against the rugged sides of this river and the great depth of the chasm make the appearance to a stranger wonderfully terrific. These were the mountains we had to guard and place our sentries in the different intricate pathways, and to post them in the dark in order to deceive our enemy and take them off before daylight. One night at twelve o'clock I went to visit the sentries, when, missing my way, owing to the excessive darkness of the night, I travelled until daylight. The French had a piquet of seventy men on the opposite side of the mountain on a level with ours. ”

“ June 21st was a day which will be for ever memorable in the pages of history, for the gallantry which was displayed by all is beyond my humble pen to describe. I assure you I feel proud at being able to say I was there. Fortune favoured me as well as Joe, who was always at my side (as he belonged to the same company) ; he behaved as brave as a lion. I thank Almighty God for His kindness and protection from injury in the hour of danger. It is exceedingly lucky, three brothers in the same fight and none touched, and how we have escaped so long astonishes me. ”

“ The enemy on every occasion oppose us with their picked and best troops; their officers are certainly prodigal of life, often exposing themselves ridiculously. One French officer came capering on, to show off to his regiment what a fine fellow he was, and actually made a cut from his horse at one of our men, who shot him. Occurrences of this nature frequently happen. One lieutenant of ours had his head dashed to pieces by a cannon shot—a very brave young soldier. ”

“ Almost every man they get hold of they murder. The women they use too brutally for me to describe. They even cut the throats of infants. The towns are mostly on fire—in short, they are guilty of every species of cruelty. I have seen such sights as have made me shudder with horror, and which I really could not have believed unless an eye-witness of them. It is needless for me to enter into particulars, as I could fill a volume with their barbarities. We continued marching, daily taking French sick and stragglers. ”

“ The ditch now, from the place where we entered to near the top of the breaches, was covered with dead and dying soldiers. If a man fell wounded, ten to one that he ever rose again, for the volleys of musketry and grape shot that were incessantly poured amongst us made our situation too horrid for description. I had seen some fighting, but nothing like this. ”

“ The officer that came upon the bridge to beg a truce observed to our officer that he was, as well as were all the French officers, much astonished at the determined bravery of the British soldiers; it surpassed everything.
My brother will soon have a lieutenancy. He is a lucky fellow indeed. I regret much I did not receive my wound in a general action. I now live in hopes of a speedy recovery and to be well in time enough for one. I am confident of victory whenever Lord Wellington can bring them to a general engagement. Our troops are in good health and seasoned soldiers. ”

“ Some deserters that came from the enemy stated that the French did not like those green fellows at all; we made sad havoc amongst them, particularly their officers. Numbers of our men are most capital shots. It would astonish you to see how coolly they go on and take the same aim as at a bird. I feel great pleasure to be with such fighting fellows and hardy soldiers. The men are so seasoned, that rain or any other kind of weather makes no impression. The intense heat now and then makes the men cross into shady places. ”

“ We are now placed upon the French frontier in the Pyrenees. The enemy's army are opposite to us, upon a chain of mountains similar to those we occupy. Our sentries are within fifty yards of each other, and their main body opposite to where we are, about a mile off, so we can come to blows in half an hour whenever our great Commander may think fit to pit us, or in other words, slip us at them. Our cannon is now thundering at San Sebastian and Pamplona. Whether Johnny will again raise the siege of these places, a few days will determine. We shall be in hot water until these places fall. ”

“ I felt some anxiety at leaving my brother officers, who vied with each other in showing their friendship and kindness on all occasions. My Captain gave me an elegant sabre, and another gave me a large cloak—Rifle Men being generally obliged to sleep in the fields (on service) , and their cloaks are their beds upon all occasions. I never shall experience more friendship from any set of men. Some will say, pray why do you leave them when you can be so happy (this was my late Colonel's observation) , but my reasons I cannot explain to every one. ”

“ My dear parents, you have met with great misfortunes in life, but you have children who love you, and in a great measure counteract the ill-effects of adversity. If I live you shall always command my last shilling. I live for my family, and hope to see them all happy; it will ever be my greatest pleasure to assist them. I believe I informed you that Colonel Sibthorp was so highly averse to my leaving his regiment that he used every scheme in his power to dissuade me, and being so confident of success, stopped my recommendation into the Line. ”