The General Orders of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington, in Portugal, Spain and France, from 1809 to 1814; in the Low Countries and France in 1815; and in France, Army of Occupation, from 1816 to 1818, etc. (Second edition.)

Front matter

THE GENERAL ORDERS OY FIELD MARSHAL THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON IN THE C A M P A I G N S ov 1809 to THE GENERAL ORDERS OF FIELD MARSHAL THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, KG., &c. &c. &c. IN PORTUGAL, SPAIN, AND FRANCE, From 1809 to 1814; IN THE LOW COUNTRIES AND FRANCE, In 1815; AND IN FRANCE, ARMY OF OCCUPATION, From 1816 to 1818; COMPILED ALPHABETICALLY PROM THE SEVERAL PRINTED VOLUMES, WHICH WERE ORIGINALLY ISSUED TO THE GENERAL AND STAFP OFFICERS AND OFFICERS COMMANDING REGIMENTS IN THE ABOVE CAMPAIGNS. By LIEUT. COLONEL GUKWOOD. LONDON : PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, 14, CHARING CROSS. MDCCCXXXV1I. TO FIELD MARSHAL THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, DUKE OK CIUDAD RODRIGO, DUKE OF VITOR1A, PRINCE OF WATERLOO, KNIGHT OF THE GARTER, KNIGHT GRAND CROSS OF THE BATH, AND KNIGHT OF ALL THE DISTINGUISHED MILITARY ORDERS OF EUROPE THIS COMPILATION OF THE GENERAL ORDERS ISSUED BY HIS GRACE, DURING HIS COMMAND OF THE ALLIED ARMIES IS THE PENINSULA, LOW COUNTRIES, AND FRANCE, is RKSPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY HIS FAITHFUL ESQUIRE.

CONTENTS. Pa*;-: Dedication ........ v Preface ......... ix Introduction ........ xxv PrtScis of the Campaigns from 1809 to 1814 and 1815, and Army of Occupation, 1S16, 1817, and 1818 . lxiii General Order, dated Lisbon, 27th April, 1809. The Appointment of Lieut. Gen. Sir A. Wellesley, K.B., to be Commander of the Forces ..... lxxi General Order, dated Pero Negro, 14th November, 1810, for printing the Standing Orders ..... hxii General Orders in Portugal, Spain, and France, from 1809 to 1814, arranged alphabetically ..... 1 Alphabetical Index to the General Orders in Portugal, Spain, and France, from 1809 to 1814 .... 327 General Order, dated Bruxelles, 11th April, 1815. The Appointment of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington, K.G., &c, to be Commander of the Forces on the Continent of Europe ....... 369 General Order, dated Bruxelles, 25th April, 1815, directing the Orders issued by the Commanders of the Forces, General Lord Lynedoch, General His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange, and Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington, to be printed as Standing Orders . . 370 General Orders in the Low Countries and in France in 1815, arranged alphabetically . . . . . . 371 Alphabetical Index to the General Orders in the Low Countries and in France in 1815. . . . . . 457 General Orders in France, Army of Occupation, from 1816 to 1818 473 Alphabetical Index to the General Orders in France, Army of Occupation, from 1816 to 1818 .... 555 Three Orders or Instructions, entitled ' Rank,' ' October Minute,' and ' Barracks,' issued by Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington when Commander in Chief, 1827 . 569 Appendix .........

Preface

. The following letter from the Compiler to Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington, and His Grace's answer, will be the best introduction of this work to the military world. ' Lieut. Governor's Office, Portsmouth, 9th Feb. 1832. My Lord Duke, The orders issued by your Grace when in the command of the Armies in the Peninsula, in the Low Countries, and in France, from 1809 to 1818, occupy seven* volumes, which at this moment are in the possession of but very few of the Officers who had the honor and advantage of serving under your Grace's command. The greater part of these volumes is taken up with appointments, proceedings of Courts Martial, and repetitions of matters of a local or temporary importance only, that make it difficult at once fully to view the line of duties and discipline of a permanent nature, which rendered the system established by your Grace in the com mand of those armies so pre-eminent in success.

I have presumed to compile them alphabetically under different heads : so that, on referring to any particular department, duty, detail, service, &c, all the orders on each subject, necessary either as a precedent or as information to the service Officer, may be seen detailed from the beginning to the end of your Grace's commands of those armies. The whole being condensed, or rather extracted, so as to form one thick octavo volume, I presume to ask your Grace's per mission to allow me to have them printed, at some future period, in their condensed state ; for the compilation of such orders would be invaluable to the service and the country, as forming the basis of the education of the service Officer, and as precedents in future wars. I take the liberty to request that your Grace will signify your pleasure to me, which shall be observed with the same deference, * Now ten. b

PREFACE.

. X obedience, and zeal that your Grace's orders have been, and would again be obeyed by me in the field. I have the honor to be, Your Grace's Faithful Servant, Field Marshal J- Gurwood. The Duke of Wellington, fye. fye. fy-c: [Forwarded in another Letter, dated the 22d of February.] (Answer.) ' London, 23d February, 1832. My Dear Colonel, I have received this morning your letters of the 9th and 22d inst. I have no objection whatever to what you propose to do. There is a good deal relating to discipline in the orders about Courts Martial, as well as I recollect. However, I must observe, that the defect of the original compilation of the orders was, that the press was never corrected. Indeed, I do not believe that the copy of the orders sent from the Adjutant General's Office abroad to the printer in London was ever revised ; or that the original book itself is correct, considering that it was copied by a clerk from my own hand-writing.

The correction of the press, therefore, would be very desirable. Another desideratum would be some short abstract of the cause of any particular order, if the orders should not be entered in your compilation, according to dates. Believe me ever Your's, most faithfully, Lieut. Colonel Gurwood, Wellington. Portsmouth.' These injunctions have been obeyed : although the General Orders, as now given, may be faulty in many respects in their classification, they have been arranged to the best of the judgment of the Compiler, who is not insensible of the weight of responsibility attached to the preparation of them for the press. He has carefully

PREFACE.

. XI avoided the presumption of changing a single word, excepting where it was evident that there was an error in the manuscript, or in the uncorrected press of the ten volumes from winch the Orders are now compiled. Nothing has been omitted but repetitions and local or temporary details, which could convey neither additional instruction nor interest, and would be unnecessary to re-publish. This volume of authority and reference is therefore now presented to the soldier and to the historical reader, as having formed the basis of the most brilliant period of our military glory — a period which confirmed the ever lasting fame of that Chief by whom it was commenced, conducted, and concluded. The following brief sketch of the arrangement of the General Orders in this compilation, and of the component parts of a British Army, as it then served in the Field, may afford some useful instruction to the Military Officer, as well as information to the general reader.

The General Orders were always issued and signed by the Senior Officer in the Adjutant General's department at Head Quarters*. * During the several periods of the Campaigns, from 1809 lo 1814, the Chiefs of the Adjutant General's department at Head Quarters were — Major Gen. the Hon. C. Stewart Marquis of Londonderry. Major Gen. the Hon. E. Pakenham killed at New Orleans. Colonel Lord Aylmer Com. in Chief in Canada, Lieut. Col. Waters Major Gen. Sir J. Waters, K.C B. In the Campaign of 1815. Major Gen. Sir E. Barnes Com. in Chief in India. Lieut. Col. Waters Major Gen. Sir J. Waters, K.C.B. Army of Occupation, during 1816, 1817, 1818. Major Gen. Sir K. Barnes Com. in Chief in India. b2

PREFACE.

. Whenever (see ) is placed, it refers to an order on that head of the same date, to save the repetition of it. On reference to the Precis of the campaigns from 1809 to 1815 (see page xliii), it will be seen, by comparing with it the dates of the several orders, under what circumstances of the campaigns they were issued, and recollected by those who served in them. It will however be neces sary to explain briefly to those who did not. Orders on Commissariat, Hospital, Clothing, Equip ment, economy and discipline, were generally issued when the army was in stationary camps or cantonments, or in winter quarters after arduous service, or when re-or ganizing for future operations. Few orders of a permanent nature were issued in ac tive warfare or when the army was advancing. Not so in retreat ; as will be seen by the orders on Plunder, Stragglers, Provost Marshal, Pig shooting, &c. ; all showing signs of a relaxation of discipline, arising from the inclemencies of heat, or bad weather, bad roads, privations, &c, but principally, it would seem, from inat tention of all ranks of Officers to the strict and energetic performance of their duties (see ' Circular Letter,' Freneda, 28th Nov. 1812) : all these produced a consequent disobedience to orders in the soldier in times of difficulty and danger.

The same results followed the successful assaults of the fortresses ; and discipline received a severe shock in their consequences. When advancing, and when success attends the opera tions of an army, many a plausible reputation has been easily attained by Officers and men, who have failed under the trial in difficult circumstances. But on a retreat, in the inclemency of weather, suffering from want

PREFACE.

. XIII of provisions, and harrassed night and day by an ad vancing enemy, when the strongest hearts have quailed ; it is then the thorough soldier, who spares neither health nor person, is seen maintaining that spirit, order, and discipline, which often save the reputation of an army. Those who have served in advance and rear guards weigh well the pretensions of Officers, and can justly appreciate individual merit in such services. But it would perhaps be indecorous, at all events invidious, to cite examples in the British army under these opposite circumstances ; and it may be therefore excusable in having recourse to known examples in the superior Officers of the French army. No one who has ever read any of the various relations of the French campaign in Russia would ever presume to designate Murat as otherwise than a brave enterprising soldier : in success he was always among the foremost.

But how transcendant is the character of Marshal Ney in the retreat ! He was always the last of the rear guard, animating by his presence, activity, energy, and example, the drooping spirits of those cast down by privations and disaster ! Under the head of * Thanks' after victory, there are many battles and affairs omitted in the seven volumes compilation; and there are no thanks from the Commander of the Forces published in them for Sorauren, St. Sebas tian, the Nivelle, the Nive, Orthez, Aire, Tarbes, or Toulouse : but there is one General Order of the Duke, dated Castroxeriz, Uth June, 1813, No. 1, under the head of ' Action' with the enemy, where it is necessarily placed, and supersedes all other thanks. Even the classical compositions of the Speakers of the Houses of

PREFACE.

. Parliament, in repeatedly conveying thanks to the army, or the Waterloo medal, are not more honorable to the reputation of the soldier, who did his duty under the Duke of Wellington, than these few words so simply and so ingenuously introduced ; although censure rather than praise appears to have been at the moment upper most in the mind of the Chief. Under the heads of ' General Courts Martial on Officers' and ' on Privates,' those only have been inserted upon which the Commander of the Forces has made remarks. The Compiler has taken the liberty to abridge the original matter, and the technicality of the charges has been omitted. The Compiler conceives he is obeying the intentions of the Duke of Wellington in the republication, by also omitting the names of the Officers and soldiers against whom charges were thus preferred ; but he has found it difficult to restrain his presumption in calling attention to the justice and wisdom contained in the Duke's remarks.

There are three instructions or orders of the Duke of Wellington, when afterwards Commander in Chief of the Army, which settle points often questioned in the service in different parts of the world, and which cannot be better placed than with his orders issued in the field. They were received in the West Indies when the Com piler was Deputy Adjutant General there. One is con tained in a letter on the relative rank and authority of the Officers of the Civil Departments of the army, when acting with the Officers of the army (see ' Rank') ; ano ther is contained in a Minute, detailing the responsibility of General Officers for the Officers of the Staff, serving under the direct orders and superintendence of the stipe-

PREFACE.

. XV rior Officers for whose assistance they are employed (see ' October Minute') ; and the other is contained in a letter on the subject of Barracks and the duties of Barrack Masters. (See ' Barracks.') These three instructions or orders are placed at the end, under the date 1827, after the General Orders 1816, 1817, and 1818, * Army of Occupation,' and before the Appendix. There are no General Orders to refer to which will precisely specify what were all the component parts of the army, although the nominations and appointments of General and Staff Officers, the posting battalions to brigades, and brigades to divisions, &c, are to be seen throughout the ten volumes, more particularly" in that of the seventh, 1815. (See General Orders, 1816, 1817, and 1818, ' Army of Occupation.') The formation of the army by brigades, divisions, and corps, its staff, military, and civil, with all the detail of departments, materiel, &c, necessary to its efficiency, has been gleaned from the General Orders, so that a general explanation may be here given of the whole as a body, beginning with the Head Quarters, Staff Departments, &c. attached to it.

Personal Staff of the Commander of the Forces. The Military Secretary. The Commandant at Head Quarters, being an Assistant in the Adjutant General's Department. The Aides de Camp to the Commander of the Forces. The Adjutant General's Department. The Adjutant General. The Deputy Adjutant General. Assistant Adjutant Generals. Deputy Assistant Adjutant Generals.

PREFACE.

. XVI The Officers of this department were charged with all the detail of duties, returns, correspondence, discipline, &c. Although the organs of the Head Quarters and of the General Officers commanding corps and divisions, to which the Officers of this department were respectively attached, for all orders and communications, the respon sibility of the duties they performed rested with the General Officers under whose orders they respectively served, and for whose assistance they are employed. (See ' October Minute, 1827.') The Quarter Master General's Department. The Quarter Master General. The Deputy Quarter Master General. Assistant Quarter Master Generals. Deputy Assistant Quarter Master Generals. The Officers of this department were charged with the embarkation, disembarkation, equipment, quartering, hutting, encamping, route marching, and the occupation of positions of the different divisions, and of the troops at the stations to which they were respectively attached, under the authority and responsibility of the General or other superior Officer in command of them.

(See ' Oc tober Minute, 1827.') Staff attached to the Head Quarters. An Assistant in the Quarter Master General's Department, having the superintendence of the. billetting, and of the quarters at the Head Quarters, and of the baggage of the army. A Staff Surgeon. A Chaplain. An Assistant Commissary General. An Assistant Provost Marshal. An Assistant Baggage Master.

PREFACE.

. XVII Corps attached to the Head Quarters. The Officer commanding the Royal Artillery, with the Staff of his corps, having a general superintendence of the artillery and ammunition attached to the corps and divisions, as also of the battering train, reserve artillery, and ammunition. The Commanding Royal Engineer, with the Staff and other Officers belonging to his corps, having a general superintendence over the Officers of Engineers, the corps of Sappers and Miners, Pontoons, and the Engineers' Park, consisting of materiel for sieges, intrenching tools, &c. belonging to the army. The Officer commanding the corps of Guides, being an Assistant in the Quarter Master General's department, in charge also of the Post Office and of the general com munications of the army. The Officer commanding the Staff corps of Cavalry, being in charge of the police of the army, and of other duties of a confidential nature.

The Provost Marshal and his Assistants, having charge of all prisoners of war, deserters from the enemy, and all prisoners tried, or to be tried, by a General Court Martial, &c, and having the authority of inflicting summary punishment for all offences whatever committed under their observation. Their duties were defined in the General Orders. (See ' Provost Marshal,' 1st Nov. 1811.) Civil Departments attached to the Head Quarters. The Medical department, consisting of Inspector of Hospitals, Deputy Inspector, Physicians, Staff Surgeons,

PREFACE.

. Apothecaries, Dispensers, Assistant Staff Surgeons, Hospital Assistants, &c. The Purveyor's department, consisting of a Purveyor to the Forces, with Deputies and Assistants, in charge of the hospitals, hospital materiel, of the arms, accoutrements, clothing, and necessaries of the men in hospital, and of the burial expenses of men who die in hospital. The Paymaster General's department, consisting of Paymaster General, Assistants, &c. The Commissariat department, consisting of Commis sary General, Deputy Commissary Generals, Assistants, Deputy Assistants, Commissariat Clerks, holding trea sury appointments, and other Clerks. This department was divided into two branches, Stores and Accounts. The Storekeeper General's department, consisting of Storekeeper General and his Assistants, having charge of the field equipments, tents, &c, and the heavy baggage of the army.

The Comptroller of Army Accounts, with Inspectors and Examiners, to whom all Accountants, those of the Commissariat excepted, rendered their accounts in the same manner as previously to the Commissariat of Accounts. The Post Office, under charge of the Officer commanding the corps of Guides. The Press, for the greater facility in circulating the General Orders, &c, attached to the Adjutant General's department. The army in the field was formed into divisions, each commanded by a Lieutenant General or a Major General,

PREFACE.

. XIX having local rank as such, with a Staff attached, as follows : — Two Aides de Camp. One Assistant Adjutant General. One Deputy Assistant Adjutant General. One Assistant Quarter Master General. One Deputy Assistant Quarter Master General. One or two Officers of the Royal Engineers. One Staff Surgeon. One Chaplain. One Assistant Commissary General, with Deputy Assistants, Clerks, &c. One Assistant Provost Marshal. One Baggage Master, with assistance from the Staff corps of Cavalry. One Storekeeper of Ordnance, in charge of the reserve ammunition, under the Officer commanding the artillery attached to the division. Each division was formed of two or more brigades, each brigade consisting of two, three, or four battalions ; the light companies of which Avere formed, when in presence of the enemy, under the command of a Field Officer or senior Captain of the light companies of each brigade.

Each brigade was commanded by a Major or Brigadier General or Colonel on the Staff, with a Staff attached, as follows : — One Aide de Camp. One Major of Brigade. One Deputy Assistant Commissary General, with Clerks and Assistants of that department. To each division of infantry a brigade of artillery was attached, the Officer commanding which was under the XX

PREFACE.

. immediate orders of the General Officer commanding the division, although under the general superintendence of the Commanding Officer of artillery at the Head Quarters of the army. When two or more divisions were placed under the second in command, or other Officer of high rank, to act as a corps, a similar Staff was attached to the corps to assist him in the command of it. One or more brigades of artillery were in general attached to the corps in ad dition to the artillery of the divisions ; as also a force of cavalry in proportion to the service and duties required of the corps. The cavalry was also composed of divisions, each divi sion consisting of two or more brigades, and each brigade of two or more regiments of heavy or light cavalry. To each brigade of Hussars or light cavalry, a troop of horse artillery was usually attached, when in the advance of the army or before the enemy, under the immediate orders of the General commanding the brigade.

The General Officer commanding the cavalry had a Staff attached to him similar to that of the superior General Officer com manding a corps. In addition to the foregoing, what is called the materiel was attached to the army, independent of the army in divisions, viz. — The Battering Train, under the orders of the Officer commanding the Royal Artillery. The Pontoon Train, under the orders of the Commander of the Royal Engineers. The Engineer's Park, Materiel for Sieges, &c. The Waggon Train, under the orders of the Quarter Master General attached to the Hospitals, Commissariat, &c, or to divisions, as circumstances might require.

PREFACE.

. XXI The Ordnance Stores Train. The Commissariat Waggon Train, and The other transport of the Army. In the principal towns through which the army passed an Hospital Station was usually formed, to which, besides the necessary Medical and Hospital Staff, there was generally a Depot Staff, consisting of — A Captain, as Commandant, A Subaltern, as Adjutant, An Assistant Commissary General, An Assistant Provost Marshal ; particularly if the station should be a town of consideration and a magazine, on the line of the resources and place of embarkation or disembarkation of the army. These stations were necessarily changed according to the line of operations of the army with its communications and resources. The port of embarkation or disembarkation and the chief depot of the army was generally under the com mand of a superior Officer, with Officers of the Adjutant and Quarter Master General's department attached to him ; exclusive of the Garrison Staff of Town Major, Town Adjutant, Provost Marshal, &c, and of the Com mandant of the depot of convalescents, drafts, &c, to whom a local Staff of Adjutant, Paymaster, and Quarter Master was attached.

Officers of the Quarter Master General's department, Officers of the Royal Engineers and Royal Staff corps, were employed on topographical surveys, reports of roads,

PREFACE.

. bridges, and resources of the country. In addition to these, Regimental Officers were employed by the Gene rals commanding divisions as Officers in observation beyond the outposts of their respective divisions, to obtain information with respect to the movements of the enemy in front, and for the purpose of reporting upon the resources, roads, rivers, bridges, and other military features of the country unoccupied between the outposts of the two armies. Under the heads of ' Returns' and ' States' the num ber and nature of those required do not appear : they consisted principally as follow : — Embarkation Returns. Disembarkation Returns. Monthly Returns. Effective States. Weekly States. Daily States. The mode of making out Returns and States is par ticularly laid down (see ' Returns,' Badajoz, 24th Sept. 1809).

Returns of Sick, daily, weekly, and monthly, were sent by regiments to the Staff Surgeon or Senior Medical Officer of the brigade, district, or station (see ' Hospital,' Coimbra, 4th May, 1809, and Freneda, 9th Oct. 1811), who forwarded them to the Officer commanding the brigade, &c, and to the Chief of the Medical department of the army. Nominal Lists of Sick Absent were occa sionally called for, to correct the General Hospital Returns (see ' Sick Absent'), as also Weekly Returns of Sick

PREFACE.

. XXIII in the General Hospital, for the purpose of correcting the Sick Absent Returns in the regiments. ( See ' Hospital/ Abrantes, 13th June, 1809.) Returns of the Officers serving in the respective de partments were also occasionally called for, to be sent to the Adjutant General's Office. (See ' Staff,' Busaco, 24th Sept. 1810.)