Rifles: Six Years With Wellington's Legendary Sharpshooters (37 page)
Read Rifles: Six Years With Wellington's Legendary Sharpshooters Online
Authors: Mark Urban
Tags: #Europe, #Napoleonic Wars; 1800-1815, #Great Britain, #Military, #Other, #History
In February 1856, an old soldier stiff from his many wounds, George Simmons received a letter. He had retired to Saint Helier in Jersey. There Simmons grew used to reading of the passing of the old riflemen whose campaigns had ended more than forty years back. Leach had died the year before. Fairfoot had crossed the Styx way back in 1838, but his widow Catherine had moved to Jersey, where Simmons was able to keep a protective eye on her. He could see from the back of the letter that it was from an old Peninsular comrade, Charlie Beckwith, who had commanded a company of the 95th. Beckwith had been perturbed to read of the deaths of two old regimental friends the previous year. He told Simmons:
Our friends it is true are fast descending into the tomb and we shall soon follow; but we shall lay down by the side of brothers who loved us during our lives. [They] and a long list down to the rank and file were all united in one common bond of common danger and suffering. God Bless them all!
Those words are an excellent epitaph for the 1st Battalion, 95th. They became legendary not just because of their training and tactics – which
were
truly innovative. Their real secret, however, was that they lived and died for one another and in doing so unlocked a true fighting spirit: that precious unity that inspires men to suffer the worst of hardships, to maintain the respect of their brothers in arms, in pursuit of victory.
1 Top: an early illustration of the different firing positions used by riflemen. The need to aim their weapons meant it was much harder for the 95th to stand shoulder to shoulder in the firing line, like normal infantry. Centre and below: the Baker rifle was critical to the regiment’s success: it combined accuracy with ease of use and robustness in the field.
2 An illustration from Ezekiel Baker’s 33 Years Practice and Observation with Rifle Guns, showing how the inventor was just as interested in firing techniques as he was in the design of the rifle itself. Not only is the correct alignment of fore and back sights shown, but the rifleman has also tensed the weapon’s sling around his elbow to give a steadier shot.
3 This dramatic depiction shows one of the targets used in the Board of Ordnance trials that selected the Baker rifle.
4 This detail of a map from James Wyld’s Maps and Plans shows the northern Portuguese–Spanish frontier, scene of the Light Division’s celebrated exploits from 1809 to 1812. Although Wyld took the credit for publication, most of his maps were surveyed and drawn by Thomas Mitchell, an officer of the 95th, who joined the regiment early in 1811 as a ‘gentleman volunteer’. The border runs down the centre of the left hand page; parallel with it are the Coa and Agueda rivers, just across it the walled city of Ciudad Rodrigo, and near the top of the right hand page is the city of Salamanca.
5 Top left: Sidney Beckwith the 1st Battalion’s Commanding Officer during the campaigns of 1809–11 whose inspired leadership did so much to establish the regiment’s reputation. Top right: Andrew Barnard initially led the 3rd Battalion of Rifles in Spain, later commanding the 1st, where the self confidence born of family money and an Anglo-Irish pedigree won him Wellington’s respect. Bottom right: Robert Craufurd pictured in the uniform of the 5th Battalion, 60th Foot, some years before 1809 when he became the 1st/95th’s brigadier. Bottom left: Alexander Cameron, painted after the Napoleonic wars and showing signs of the sixteen wounds that effectively invalided him out of the service; he commanded the 1st/95th between Beckwith and Barnard.
6 Top left: Ned Costello painted after leaving the 95th and his service in the Spanish Carlist (civil) War. Right: Jonathan Leach, commander of the 2nd Company for almost all of the Peninsular Wars, who personified the ‘wild sportsman’ officers of the 95th. Bottom left: Harry Smith an instensely ambitious 95th officer who rose to become a successful Victorian general.
7 The Combat of the Coa. French forces moved down from the top (east) of this engraving to the bottom – the legend below the scale indicates that Craufurd’s troops have been drawn on in three stages as the battle developed.
8 Top: Busaco. Units of Ney’s 6th corps d’armée are marked ‘X’; the Light Division, near Sula, is ‘m’; and Pack’s (Portuguese) Brigade ‘k’. Bottom: Foz d’Arouce, the most successful of the Light Division’s combats against Ney’s rearguard leaving Portugal. The initial Light Division march is marked ‘D’ and its attack ‘d’.
9 Sabugal. The Light Division’s attack formations are marked ‘h’, upper right. The 3rd and 5th Division attacks, ‘i’ and ‘k’ respectively, were elements of Wellington’s plan that went into effect far later than planned, leaving the Light Division dangerously exposed.
10 Above: a fine view of Ciudad Rodrigo just after the siege, done in watercolour by Lieutenant Thomas Mitchell of the 95th. Two brother officers stand in the foreground; the right-hand breach in the walls was assaulted by the 3rd Division and the left by the Light Division. Bottom: the Great Breach at Badajoz, painted by Atkinson who, unlike Mitchell, was not present.
