The military memoirs of Lieut.-General Sir Joseph Thackwell, G.C.B., K.H.; Colonel 16th Lancers, arranged from diaries and correspondence

Preface

It is probable that these Memoirs would never have seen the light, but for the fact that in some books, comparatively recently published, which deal with the history of the campaigns of the Sutlej and of the Indus, it appeared that on at least one occasion blame was imputed to Sir Joseph Thackwell, either owing to the writers not being in possession of a complete knowledge of all the attendant circumstances, or because they were not aware of the terms of the actual orders from Lord Gough by which the actions of Sir Joseph Thackwell were guided or controlled. General Thackwell was not only the most loyal of subordinates, but he had ever carefully refrained, even in his private correspondence and journals, from anything approaching comment or criticism of the actions or commands of his superiors. In all the pages of his diaries — bridging the lapse of years between Corunna and Gujerat — there is no word of adverse, much less of hostile, criticism. He had, too, a horror of anything like literary or journalistic controversy in regard to military vi PREFACE

operations ; he strongly disapproved of officers writing for the Press — in a letter written before his son Edward came to India he warns him, as he values his own prospects and his father's good opinion, "never to wTite in the newspapers." The " Nan-ative of the Second Seikh War " was written, as the author admits, without Sir Joseph's knowledge or countenance, and it is unquestionable that its publication gave him no little annoyance. Nearly half a century has, however, passed away since the General's death, and it is thought that in justice to his memory some attempt may now well be made to show how circumstances shaped the events in which he bore a leading part, and to what extent such of his actions as have been questioned were fettered by his loyal observance of the orders of those who were responsible for the carrying out of the general scheme of operations.

Major-General W. de W. R. Thackwell, C.B., V.D., J.P., of Wynstone Place, Gloucestershire, the eldest surviving son of Sir Joseph Thackwell, has for some time past wished to publish his father's memoirs, and has unreservedly placed at my disposal for this purpose, not only all the late Sir Joseph Thackwell's journals and the manuscript record he compiled of the services of the 15th Hussars in Spain, but a mass of correspondence— private letters and copies of public documents— connected with the events of a long and particularly varied military career.

PREFACE vii

I am greatly indebted to my brother, Major Wylly, of the staff of the Royal United Service Institution, for much help in the way of reference to the literature of the wars wherein Sir Joseph Thackwell was engaged, and to Mr. Wilham Foster, of the India Office, for assistance in regard to maps.

In the matter of the spelling of Indian placenames, I have thought it less confusing to ignore the different manner in which these are spelt by the various writers quoted, and to spell each one throughout in the way to which the ordinary reader is best accustomed.

H. C. W.

LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED

Life of Sir David Baird

Diary of Sir John Moore

Records of the 15th Hussars . . . .

Records of the 10th Hussars ....

Narrative of the Campaign iu the Peninsula Life of Lord Seaton ......

Passages in the Early Life of Major-General Sir G. Napier .......

History of the War in the Peninsula .

Campaign of the Army in Spain by Sir J. Moore. Life of Lord Lynedoch .....

History of the German Legion ....

Memoirs of Viscount Combermere Wellington's Oi)erations in the Peninsula . How England saved Europe ....

Wellington's Men

Life of Lord Castlereagh

Annals of the Peninsula Campaigns.

Miscellaneous pamphlets.

Wellington's Despatches ....

Waterloo Letters .....

Journal of Lieutenant Woodberry.

Cavalry in the Waterloo Campaign

Memoirs of the 18th Hussars

The War in Afghanistan ....

The Afghan Campaign ....

The Campaign in Afghanistan

Tlie First Afghan War ....

Memorials of Afghanistan ....

The War in Afghanistan ....

Military Services in the Far East

History of India ......

The Indian Administration of Lord Ellenborough

Life of Hugh Viscount Gough . . . .

The Sikhs and the Sikh Wars ...

ix

Hook.

Maurice.

Cannon.

Liddell.

Londonderry.

Moore Smith.

Napier.

Napier.

Moore.

Delavoye.

Beamish.

Knollys.

Butler.

Fitchett.

Fitchett.

Alison.

Gurwood.

Siborne.

Wood.

Malet.

Havelock.

Helsham Jones.

Hough.

Durand.

Stocqueler.

Kaye.

Mackinnon.

Keene.

Colchester.

Rait.

Gough and Innes.

LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED

Despatches of Hardinge and Gough.

Hardinge (Rulers of India) .

History of the 3rd Light Dragoons

Life of Lord Clyde

The Second Seikh War

Autobiography of Sir H. Smith

Records of the 16th Lancers

The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers

The Punjab Campaign, 1848-49

Dalhousie (Rulers of India) .

Barracks and Battle-fields .

Rambling Reminiscences of the Punjaub Cam

paign ....

Life of Sir Hope Grant Battles of Chillianwallah and Gujerat Records of the 14th Hussars Tlie Punjab in Peace and War Decisive Battles of India Parliamentary Papers.

Life of Sir Henry Durand .

History of the Bengal Artillery Life of Sir Charles Napier .

A Year on the Indian Frontier The Calcutta Review, vol. xv.

History of the British Empire in India Essays, Military and Political History of the Sikhs .

Calcutta Review, vol. vi.

The Sikhs ....

Memoirs of Colonel Mountain

Hardinge.

Kauntze.

Shadwell.

Thackwell.

Moore Smith.

Cannon.

Reynard.

Lawrence-Archer

Hunter.

Caine.

Macphersou.

Knollys.

Sir Charles Gough.

Hamilton.

Thorburn.

Malleson.

Durand.

Stubbs.

Napier.

Edwardes.

Durand.

Trotter.

Lawrence.

Cunningham.

Edwardes.

Gordon.

Mountain.

i

Chapter I Page

Early life — Enters the Worcestershire Provisional Cavalry — Serves in Ireland during the Rebellion— Joins the 15th King's Light Dragoons — Placed on half-pay at the peace of Amiens- Restored to the establishment of the 15th Hussars on outbreak of War — Embarks for Portugal 1

CHAPTER n

The Hussar Brigade under General Slade disembarks at Corunna — March to join Sir David Baird — Contradictory orders— Hussar Brigade joins Sir John Moore — Action of Sahagun— Gallant behaviour of the Fifteenth— Retreat of the army to Corunna— Re-embarkation and return to England 11

CHAPTER HI

Four years' home service — Events in the Peninsula — The 16th Hussars ordered to Portugal and laud at Lisbon — The march to join Lord Wellington— The left advance — Passage of the Esla — Action of Morales — Advance to Vittoria — The battle and pursuit — Rearrangement of the cavalry brigades . . 24

CHAPTER IV

Disposition of Wellington's army— Employment of the cavalry — The blockade of Pampeluna— The Fifteenth enter France- Opening of tlie campaign of 1814 — Orthes — Toulouse — Abdication of Napoleon -Declaration of peace — The Fifteenth march to Boulogne —Return homo ....... 46

xi xii CONTENTS

CHAPTER V

PAQE

Reduction of establishments— tlie Fifteenth proceed to Ireland — Napoleon returns to France — Preparations for war — The P^ifteenth sail from Cork to Ostend — March to Quatre-Bras — The army falls back to Waterloo — The battle of the 18th June —Captain Thackwell dangerously wounded at the close of the action — Remarkable recovery — Rejoins the regiment — With the Army of Occupation — Return to England . . .67

CHAPTER VI

Called out during riots — Injury to Major Thackwell — Brevet for Waterloo — Succeeds to the command of the 15th Hussars — Duke of Cumberland — Colonel Thackwell attends foreign manoeuvres — Service in Ireland — Marriage — Busy with regimental records — Return to England — Serious riots at Nottingham — Measures taken by Colonel Thackwell — Recognition by the authorities — Decision to retire on half-pay — Exchanges with Lord Brudenell 84

CHAPTER Vn

Home life in Gloucestershire — Family — Work with the Yeomanry — The Hanoverian Order — Decides to exchange to a regiment embarking for India— Joins the 3rd Light Dragoons — Promoted Colonel in the army— Sails for India — Arrival at Calcutta — March to Cawnpore — Appointed to the rank of Major-General in India — Companion of the Bath — Trouble in Afghanistan — Appointed to command the cavalry of the Army of the Indus — Proceeds to Ferozepore — The Bengal and Bombay armies — March down the Indus — The crossing at Bukker . 107

CHAPTER VHI

The passage of the Bolan Pass — March to Quetta — Sir John Keane assumes command of tlie advance — March to Kandahar — The whole army united — Move on Kabul — Assault and capture of Ghuzuee. .......... 123

CONTENTS xiii

CHAPTER IX

PAGE

Description of Ghuznee — Resumption of the advance on Kabul — Occupation of the city — The order of the Durani Empire — The Bengal Force returns to India^The march by way of the Khyber — Arrival in Peshawar — General Avitabili — Losses among transport animals — March to Ferozepore— Break up of the Army of the Indus — General Thackwell resumes duty at Cawnpore 141

CHAPTER X

General Thackwell's views on cavalry armament— Clothing of Sepoys— Bad news from Afghanistan— Officiating command of the Cawnpore Division— Ordered to join the Army of Observation with a view to commanding a cavalry division — Arrives at Ferozepore— Orders cancelled— Offers to serve under Pollock —Leaves Army Headquarters and returns to Cawnpore— Formation of the Army of Reserve— Appointed to command of the cavalry— Proceeds to Ferozepore— Arrival of troops under Sale, Pollock, and Nott— Break up of the force— Unrest in Gwalior— General Thackwell appointed to command the cavalry in the event of war with that State — Proceeds to Agra . . 1""

CHAPTER XI

Disposition of the army under Sir Hugh Gough— Advance to the Chumbul — Battle of Maharajpore— March to Gwalior— General Thackwell decides to go home on leave— Three months in England— Returns to India and resumes duty at Cawnpore 1'^

CHAPTER XII

The Sikhs— Trouble brewing in the Punjab— Preparations for war — General Thackwell ordered to join headquarters to command the cavalry— Arrives on the Sutlej— The fords of the river— Aliwal—Sobraon— The charge of the 3rd Dragoons . 192 xiv CONTENTS

CHAPTER XIII

PAGE

The army passes the Sutlej — Peace proposals — Advance on Lahore — Great Durbar — Break up of the Force^The Cawnpore command — Accompanies Lord Hardinge to Lucknow — Transferred to Meerut — Reductions in the Native Army . 219

CHAPTER XIV

The outbreak at Multan— Preparations for war — Appointed to the command of the Third Division — Composition of the Army of the Punjab— Ramnuggar — Tliackwell to command the cavalry — The detached force — The passage of the Chenab . 233

CHAPTER XV

The march down the right bank — Contradictory orders — Sadulapore — Inaction of Lord Gough— Lord Gough's despatch — The fords of the Chenab — The real explanation of the mis-statements in Lord Gough's despatch of the 5th December . . 254

CHAPTER XVI

The advance to Helah — Thackwell's Sadulapore despatch — Its belated publication — The Sikhs entrenched on the Jhelum — The work of the cavalry — An historic battlefield — Strength of the rival forces — The enemy's line of battle — British advance to Chillianwala 270

CHAPTER XVII

Distribution of the British Force — The commander of the Third Division— The cavalry on the left — Campbell's advance — ^The cavalry under Pope — Gilbert's attack — The Sikhs fall back on Russool — The British withdrawal to Chillianwala . . . 288

CHAPTER XVIII

The newspapers on Chillianwala — Campbell's annoyance at their strictures — Correspondence with Sir Joseph Thack well- Letters from Brind, Tucker, and Robertson — Some comments on Campbell's views 307

CONTENTS XV

CHAPTER XIX

PAGE

After Chillianwala— Awaiting the fall of Multau— The flank march by the Sikhs — Approach of British reinforcements— Lord Gough moves on Gujerat— Strength of his army — Disposition of his troops — The Cavalry Division — The battle of Gujerat — Able handling of the cavalry on the left— The cavalry pursuit —Disarmament of the Sikh soldiers— Return to Meerut — Honours, rewards, and congratulations— G.C.B. . . . 324

CHAPTER XX

Last days in India — Reform in military prisons — Return home — Cordial reception — The camp at Chobham — Seeks service with the force ordered to Turkey— Appointed Officiating Inspector- General of Cavalry— Promoted Lieut. -General— Offered Lieut.- Governorship of Chelsea Hospital— Irish property— Children — Some talk of a baronetcy— Failing health — The end . . 347

APPENDIX B 368

INDEX 417

LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

Lieut. -General Sib Joseph Thackwell (Photogravure) Frontispiece Photo Debenbam, Gloucester.

TACING PAGE

Captain Thackwell leading the Last Charge of the 15th

Hussars at Waterloo ....... 72

Pboto Debenbam, Gloucester.

Plan showing Position and Movebients of 15th Hussars . 74

Plan showing Positions and Movements of Grant's Cavalry

Brigade 76

Plan op the Battle of Maharajpoor ..... 181

Map of Sobraon ......... 207

Map of Chenab River from Ramnugger to Wazirabad . 243

Sketch of the Action at Sadoolapore 268

Plan showing Position of Troops at Battle of Gujerat . 334

Sketch op the Battle of Goojerat 336

Sketch-Map of the States bordering on the Indus River

AND OF Afghanistan . . . . . , . At the end

XVI

Military Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Sir Joseph Thackwell

CHAPTER I

Joseph Thack\vell, the subject of these memoirs, was born on the 1st February 1781 at Rye Court, almost under the shadow of the Malvern Hills, and in that picturesque and historically interesting portion of the county of Worcester which marches with Gloucestershire, and which is known as Malvern Chase. He was the fourth son of John Thackwell, of Rye Court and Moreton Court, Lord of the Manor of Birtsmoreton and Berrow, and was descended from an old Worcestershire family. His mother was Judith, daughter of J. Daffy, of Maysington, a descendant of the Egyoke family.

There is little or no record of young Thackwell's boyhood ; he appears, however, to have been educated chiefly in Worcester, and when barely seventeen and a half he was appointed to the Worcestershire Regiment of Provisional Cavalry, in which his commission as Cornet signed by I^ord Coventry, Lord-I^ieutenant of the county, bears

2 EARLY SOLDIERING

date 18th August 1798. The Provisional Cavahy was a short-hved force, which had been called into existence just ten years previously when the alarm of invasion was at its height, and appears to have been in some degree a Home Defence Regular Cavalry for service in the British Isles only — being quite distinct from either the Yeomanry or the Volunteer Cavalry. Fortescue states in his " History of the British Army " that owners of horses kept for riding or carriage were " required to provide one trooper and horse for every ten of such horses, while those that possessed fewer were lumped together to provide their horsemen jointly. This Provisional Cavalry was entitled to pay if embodied, and was reckoned to comprise fifteen thousand men." The AYorcestershire Regiment had been embodied in 1797, and when Cornet Thackwell joined them in Worcester the corps was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hon. John Somers Cocks. Thackwell was posted on appointment to Captain Parker's troop— the regiment comprised but four troops— and his brother subaltern was a Lieutenant Thomas Garden.

On the 4th November the regiment marched from Worcester via Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth to Chester, and about this time Captain Parker appears to have resigned his commission, the command of his troop devohdng upon Captain Thomas Webb.

During April and May of the following year the Worcestershire Regiment of Provisional Cavalry had its headquarters in Liverpool, and was there commanded by Major Bromley, the commanding

SERVICE IN IRELAND S

officer being absent at Westminster attending to his parliamentary duties ; at this time ThackweU was on detachment at Wigan, and later — on the regiment moving to Shrewsbury — he seems to have been detached in Liverpool and afterwards in Preston. On the 12th September 1799 Thackwell was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and transferred to JNIajor Henry Bromley's troop ; and on the 7th of the following month the regiment moved by march route to Liverpool, under orders from Major-General O. Nicholls, and thence embarked for service in Ireland, where, "in greater measure than in other countries, the French Revolution had stirred inert minds to activity, and active minds to precipitation." The embarking strength of tlie four troops would appear to have been 187 men, since the pay-list of that date contains a credit for £294 10^. 6d. "embarkation money," at the rate of £l 11,^. 6d. per man. The regiment disembarked at the Pigeon House Dock, remained for a short time in Dublin, and moved on the 14th November to Carlow.

At this period the British army contained an enormous variety of regiments — "regular regiments for general service, regular regiments for European service, regular regiments for home service, invalid companies and other corps for garrisons at home and abroad, militia, provisional cavalry, yeomanry, volunteers, associations of cavalry, and associations of infantry,"' coloured levies and foreign troops ; and yet the military authorities of those days seem to have found the time for the in-

' Fortescue.

4 JOINS THE FIFTEENTH

dulgence of a taste — one moreover which they have bequeathed in full measure to their successors in more modern times — for constantly and bewilderingly changing the titles of regiments. Thus the corps in which young Thackwell was now serving had commenced its existence in 1796 as the Worcestershire Regiment of Provisional Cavalry; barely three years later it became the Worcestershire Regiment of Light Dragoons, and finally in January 1800 its title was once again altered to that of the Worcestershire Regiment of Fencible Cavalry.

The regiment did not remain long in Ireland, and I have been unable to discover that it was ever actively engaged against the rebels; early in 1800 it again left Dubhn, marched from Liverpool to Bewdley and thence to Worcester, where on the 12th April the regiment was finally disbanded, Joseph Thackwell being gazetted on the 23rd of that month Cornet by purchase in the 15th Light Dragoons, whose headquarters were then stationed at Canterbury, and joining a troop quartered at Ramsgate on or before the 15th May.

At this period the 15th King's Light Dragoons bore a reputation second to none in the British — or indeed in any cavalry. As Eliott's Light Horse the regiment had taken part, just forty years before, in its maiden battle, and the name " EmsdorfF" commemorates their gallantry and their heavy losses during that engagement in the Seven Years' War, when going into action 450 strong they lost in killed and wounded 4 officers, 125 men and 126 horses, and "five Battalions of French were

HIS BROTHER OFFICERS 5

defeated and taken by this regiment with their Colours and nine pieces of cannon on the plains of EmsdorfF July the sixteenth 1760."' But when young Thackwell was appointed there were officers still serving in the regiment who had taken part in an even greater feat of arms ; Aylett was there who had led the three squadrons of the Fifteenth atVillers en Cauchies ; there too were Calcraft, who had ridden with him, and Robert Wilson — this last in after-years the British INIilitary Commissioner with the Russian Army during Napoleon's disastrous campaign of 1812. The regiment had even now but just returned from active service in Holland under H.R.H. the Duke of York, where their behaviour had earned for them the right to bear the word " Egmont-op-Zee " upon their guidons and appointments.

Truly a good school for a young cavalryman anxious so to train his mind and body that he might rise to high rank in this particular branch of the service !

When Thackwell joined the 15th Light Dragoons, then commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel George Anson, he was at first posted to Captain Sandford Lambe's troop, but in the following June he was transferred to that commanded by Major and Lieutenant-Colonel Aylett, with whom he seems to have remained until promoted lieutenant on the 13th June 1801, when he joined Captain James Mansfield's troop at Hertford.

During the autumn of 1800 and the winter of

' Inscription on a helmet issued to Eliott's Light Horse after the Seven Years' War, and now in the Officers' Mess, 15th Hussars.

6 REDUCTION OF THE ARMY

1800-1 the Fifteenth were at Dorchester, but in the early part of April the regiment was ordered to the neighbourhood of Taunton in consequence of serious riots in Somersetshire, two troops being sent to Launceston and Bodmin. Just now the Fifteenth must have presented a very fine appearance ; it was already 800 strong, but the ten troops were now each augmented to 90 men and horses, and in June the strength of the regiment was again further increased until its establishment was 950 rank and file, with 1,012 horses. It seems clear that already thus early Thackwell had shown the zeal and ability which were ever afterwards to distinguish him ; for in September 1801, it being determined to attach two galloper guns to each regiment of light cavalry, he was sent in charge of a party to Brighton to go through a special course with Horse Artillery. In the spring of the following year, however, it seemed as though the career of our young oflficer was likely to be prematurely blighted ; the preliminaries of peace had been already signed in London in the previous October, and the treaty of Amiens — which was really nothing more than a suspension of arms — was signed on the 25th March 1802. The immediate result of a peace was the reduction of the army, and the 15th Dragoons, which at the moment were only twelve men short of their establishment, was one of the first corps to suffer. In May 325 men were discharged and 244 horses were transferred or cast, while in June two troops were reduced, and the remaining eight were placed on an establishment of 64 men and 54 horses, when

PLACED ON HALF-PAY 7

the two junior captains, lieutenants, and cornets were placed on the half-pay list. Among these officers thus cast adrift was Joseph Thackwell, and on the 25th June he had severed — fortunately only temporarily — his connection with the regiment with which, in the future, he was to see so much and so distinguished service.

Already in JMarch 1803 the hostile attitude of the First Consul was the cause of an augmentation in the strength of the various regiments of the British Army ; the Fifteenth was brought up to a strength of 75 men and 65 horses per troop, and was stationed at different points on the Kentish coast, and by July the establishment was further raised to a total of 85 men for each of the eight troops.

Thackwell appears to have been re-posted to his old regiment on the 20th April 1804, but seems for a time to have been supernumerary to the establishment, since it is not until August that his name is to be found on the pay list as attached to a troop. In this month, however, two additional troops, making a total of ten, were placed on the establishment, and Thackwell was then posted to that nominally commanded by Captain Leitch, who had been adjutant of the Fifteenth when Thackwell first joined. As Leitch, however, was absent on the staff at this time as aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cumberland, the troop — which was at Blandford, the headquarters of the regiment being at Winchester — was, for some time at least, commanded by Lieutenant Thackwell.

In the beginning of March 1805 the establish-

8 PROMOTED CAPTAIN

merit of each troop was raised to 106 men and the same number of horses ; and in July the regiment proceeded to Weymouth, where a very large force had been assembled, and where the Fifteenth appears to have been brigaded with the 3rd Hussars of the King's German Legion. The regiment remained at Weymouth — in Radipole Barracks — during the succeeding year, and here at last Thackwell had to hand over the troop he had so long commanded as a subaltern to a Captain Augustus Heiliger, who was brought in from the 2nd Light Dragoons of the Legion. It was while quartered at Weymouth that the Fifteenth were converted into hussars. On the 9th April 1807 Captain Loftus was promoted from the Fifteenth to a majority in the 38th Foot ; but Thackwell's promotion to the vacant troop, which should have followed, was not notified until the 11th July, although the date of his promotion to captain was afterwards antedated to the earlier date. He was appointed to command I. Troop. Meanwhile the regiment had begun to hope that they were again to see service in the field, for on the 21st May an order was received from the Horse Guards to hold themselves in readiness to embark for foreign service.

For some reason, however, the order was cancelled, and it was not until the autumn of the year following that the wishes of all ranks were to be realised. In July 1807 the 15th Hussars had moved to Woodbridge Barracks and Wickham Market, and here the Hussar Brigade — 7th, 10th, and 15th Hussars — was got together under command of Major-General Lord Paget. The

ORDERED ON SERVICE 9

spring and summer of 1808 were spent in Essex, and then at last, early in October, an order was received for eight troops, each of 85 men and horses, to be held in readiness for foreign service.

The reason for this movement was the events which had been transpiring in Portugal. On the 21st August the battle of Vimiera had been fought, and on the 30th a treaty, known as the Convention of Cintra, had been concluded at Lisbon ; Sir Hew Dalrymple had been recalled to England ; Sir Arthur Wellesley and, later, Sir Harry Burrard had quitted the army in the field ; and the forces in the Peninsula had been left under the command of Sir John Moore, who had landed on the very day of the battle which closed that phase of the campaign. It was the 6th October before a despatch containing the first determinate plan of campaign arrived at Lisbon, where Sir John Moore then was.

" Thirty thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry were to be employed in the north of Spain. Of these, ten thousand were to be embarked at the English ports, the remainder to be composed of regiments drafted from the army then in Portugal. Sir John Moore was to command, and was authorised to unite the whole by a voyage round the coast or by a march through the interior.'

"1

Sir David Baird was directed to take under his orders the force destined to be added to that already under Sir John Moore in the Peninsula,

' Napier.

10 PROCEEDS TO CORUNNA

and of which the greater part was collecting at Cork and Falmouth — the cavalry at Portsmouth.

On the 20th the regiment began its march for the port of embarkation, remained a few days at Guildford en route, and finally embarked at Portsmouth on the 28th and 30th October. The embarking strength was 27 officers, 36 sergeants, 682 rank and file, and 682 horses. Captain Thackwell was the junior but one of his rank. The 7th and 10th Hussars, completing the brigade, had already set sail some days previously, and with them was the brigadier, General John Slade, who had served in the 10th until he had attained the rank of second lieutenant-colonel, and under whom the 15th Hussars had already served when at Weymouth.

The voyage across the Bay was stormy, and twenty-two horses died ; but between the 12th and 15th November the men and baggage of the regiment were safely landed at the pier at Corunna — the horses being towed ashore at the sterns of the boats— and on the 21st the 15th Hussars commenced their march up-country.

The strength of the Fifteenth marching out of Corunna is given in the "states" as 527 rank and file— total of Hussar Brigade, 1,538.

Chapter II

Sir David Baird, with the bulk of his division,

had arrived at Corunna on the 13th October, but

his disembarkation had been very greatly delayed

by the action of the Spanish authorities. He had

expected to find every arrangement made for the

reception and accommodation of his troops, but

he speedily learnt that not only was the arrival

of the British force entirely unexpected, but that

the Junta of Galicia, then sitting at Corunna,

did not consider itself authorised to receive the

EngUsh troops, or to permit their disembarkation

without the sanction of the Supreme Government,

and the projected landing was consequently delayed

to obtain this permission.

Sir John Moore had written to Sir David from

Lisbon on the 12th October, the day before the

ships conveying the reinforcements from England

had anchored at Corunna, stating that he had

decided to march the troops with him through

Spain and Portugal, in preference to embarking

them and joining Sir David at Corunna by sea ;

that he meant to move upon Almeida and Ciudad

Rodrigo by three different roads ; that his march

thence would be on Burgos ; and that " at some

12 MARCH OF THE CAVALRY

intermediate place, which shall afterwards be settled, our junction must be made." Sir David Baird was enjoined to place his troops in the most convenient cantonments in and about Corunna, and equip them for the field. On the 22nd Sir John Moore wrote again announcing that most of his regiments had started, but in the meantime the courier sent to Madrid had returned to Corunna conveying to Sir David permission to land in the event only of its being found impracticable to proceed by sea to Santander ; if disembarkation did take place it must be in detachments of not more than 300 men at one time, which were then to be successively pushed on into Castile from the port of disembarkation. It was only by objecting in the strongest terms to this division of his force, that Sir David was eventually enabled to canton his troops in the towns and villages on the two principal roads leading to Leon and Castile, pending their proper equipment for field ser\dce. As a matter of fact, however, the leading troops of the force under Sir David Baird — the light brigade with Brigadier-General Craufurd— was actually on its march towards Astorga on the 28th October, six days only after the permission to land the troops had arrived at Corunna.