Chapter 14 - The Battle of Ponferrada
The main British force, some 28,000 men, occupied the depot town of Gijon on the northern Spanish coast. Sir James Henry Craig’s defeated forces fled in the direction of Wellington’s army, but the Iron Duke had already begun to move his men to evade the French advance. By the 2nd June, the British had arrived in Santadar, and Etienne ordered the
Cavalerie to begin their pursuit. To the general’s frustration, Wellington again gave them the slip, and by the time the French arrived at Santandar the British had already returned to Gijon.
It seemed that the British were well prepared for their rapid march, and after linking up with the defeated remnants of Craig’s force they proceeded further west, to the port of Oviedo. Etienne and the
Cavalerie made hast across the northern Spanish forests, this time opting for the southern route through Leon in a bid to pin down the faster British army and force them to the field of battle.
By the 26 June, Etienne had made his camp just outside the town of Astorga, and Wellington was known to be nearby, with just under 35,000 men in the dense forests to the west. Etienne ordered the
Cavalerie to make hast to Vigo, currently occupied by the British, in the hope that threatening the depot and ports that supplied Wellington’s men would force the battle. On the 2nd July, in the forests of Ponferrada, Wellington broke cover and attacked.
The British army was comprised of a mix of line infantry and light infantry, supported by a relatively small number of dragoons. The army lacked any artillery of note – explaining the rapid movement across Spain. On sighting the British, Klein ordered an immediate massed bombardment. The fury of the French guns was great, but the dense woodland took much of the sting out of their lethal payload, and British casualties were light indeed. Wellington, better appreciating the lie of the land, ordered his dragoons to conduct lightening raids on the French flanks. These surgical raids did not cause a large number of casualties, but the inability of the French to adequately guard against them spread unease through the flanks. Sir Thomas Graham, one of the British flank commanders, deployed his own dragoons, but here the French light infantry made raiding far more difficult, and very few broke through.
Etienne was frustrated, he would have loved to use his artillery and guards in an open field, but the forest rendered all but skirmishing combat ineffective. Carteaux, also impatient, ordered his dragoons to harry the British, and a number of running battles ensued between the rival cavalry units.
Etienne ordered the light infantry to assume advanced positions, and the effectiveness of the raiding by the British was reduced greatly, although the toll was heavy on the French sharpshooters who lost almost a quarter of their strength in just over two hours of combat.
Over the night of the 2nd both sides seemed to settle into an uneasy balance, with small raiding parties being the only action undertaken. Not used to being so restricted, the French command grew impatient, and early on the morning of the 3rd Klein formed his infantry into attack columns, and marched deep into the woodland.
The line infantry encountered British snipers, using the lethal long ranged rifles, and suffered heavily in the advance. There appeared no opportunity to hit back at this foe who assaulted and then melted away into the terrain. However, after hours of bloody effort, the British were finally forced into less densely forested land.
Klein was jubilant, and ordered his line infantry into their square formations. Musket fire was poured into the now visible British positions, who returned fire at an impressive rate. French guards rushed to the field, and soon started to make their presence known as they forced the British back, and into an ever narrower area of the field.
British Cavalry attempted a full charge against the French flanks, which bought some temporary relief to the beleaguered British infantry, but after almost two days of waiting the French were finally settling into their more familiar rhythm. Artillery pieces had cleared the woods, and began to make good their earlier paralysis by pounding the British. French light infantry, although under strength, were deployed as screens on the flanks and forced the British riflemen back into the main body, where they were subject to the intense bombardment and the regimented musket fire of the lines.
For three hours, the British suffered under this onslaught, but soon the evening sun was dipping, and the impeding darkness brought a lull to proceedings. The British were forced to withdraw to the high ground to their rear, which although defensible in the dark, would leave them heavily exposed to the French fire during the daylight hours. Etienne, although recognising the tiredness of the men, ordered frequent French patrols to ensure that the British could not slip away.
Before dawn, Etienne was woken by pandemonium in the camp. British line infantry had evaded his patrols, and formed in advanced positions during the early hours of the morning. Fire was pouring into the French camp, and Etienne and his generals scrambled out of bed to maintain order and organise a response. The French casualties were heavy indeed, but soon their superior numbers began to tell and the British infantry were forced back to their camp.
Etienne, furious at the underhand tactics of the British, ordered his guard regiments to form up for an all-out assault. Cavalry and light infantry would attempt to surround the British, while the finest of the French army, supported by a heavy bombardment, would attack the British directly.
The British, seeing the approach of the French, launched cavalry charges to attempt to disrupt the advance, but they were repulsed with heavy casualties. By midday, the French were in position, and their artillery opened up with a huge salvo. The British had attempted to fortify their hill as best they could; digging shallow trenches and building basic walls for shelter, but these were obliterated by the incessant French fire. Having been unable to participate in the first stages of the battle, the French gunners were sitting on three days’ worth of shells, and seemed determined to drop them all on the British that afternoon.
Etienne, along with Klein and Carteaux, oversaw the guards and line infantry separate into three attack columns, and sent them streaming up toward the British positions, even as the shells continued to fall. In such a confined space, volley fire was at first lethal, but soon even the attackers did not have the space to remain in formation. The battle for the high ground deteriorated into individual hand to hand fighting, with both sides suffering dearly.
As the French continued to batter the main British positions, Wellington withdrew the bulk of his force down the north face of the hill, fighting a path through the French cavalry. Klein deployed several units of the French line to attempt to slow the escape, but the brave defenders of the hill had bought enough time. By early evening, Wellington had slipped away, and the battle for Ponferrada was over.
Etienne had forced the British back, but the cost had been heavy. Just under 14,000 British were killed from the forest to the hill, while French casualties were actually slightly higher owing to the effectiveness of the British raids, 14,200. The Cavalerie d’Italie was reduced to just 30,000 men, not much more than half her full strength, but the Duke of Wellington had withdrawn with just 20,000 fighting fit men.
