IX, Yet, ere thou turn'st, collect each distant aid; Those chief that never heard the lion roar ! Within whose souls lives not a trace portray'd, Of Talavera, or Mondego's shore! Marshal each band thou hast, and summon more; Of war's fell stratagems exhaust the whole; Rank upon rank, squadron on squadron pour, Legion on legion on thy foeman roll, And weary out his arm-thou canst not quell his soul. X. O vainly gleams with steel Agueda's shore, Vainly thy squadrons hide Assuava's plain, And front the flying thunders as they roar, With frantic charge and tenfold odds, in vain ! 1 1 In the severe action of Fuentes d' Honoro, upon 5th May 1811, the grand mass of the French cavalry attacked the right of the British position, covered by two guns of the horseartillery, and two squadrons of cavalry. After suffering con siderably from the fire of the guns, which annoyed them in every attempt at formation, the enemy turned their wrath entirely towards them, distributed brandy among their troopers, and advanced to carry the field-pieces with the desperation of drunken fury. They were in nowise checked by the heavy loss which they sustained in this daring attempt, but closed, and fairly mingled with the British cavalry, to whom they bore the proportion of ten to one. Captain Ramsay (let me be permitted to name a gallant countryman), who commanded the two guns, dismissed them at the gallop, and, putting himself at the head of the mounted artillerymen, And what avails thee that, for CAMERON slain,1 Wild from his plaided ranks the yell was given ordered them to fall upon the French, sabre-in-hand. This very unexpected conversion of artillerymen into dragoons, contributed greatly to the defeat of the enemy, already disconcerted by the reception they had met from the two British squadrons; and the appearance of some small reinforcements, notwithstanding the immense disproportion of force, put them to absolute rout. A colonel or major of their cavalry, and many prisoners (almost all intoxicated) remained in our possession. Those who consider for a moment the difference of the services, and how much an artilleryman is necessarily and naturally led to identify his own safety and utility with abiding by the tremendous implement of war, to the exercise of which he is chiefly, if not exclusively, trained, will know how to estimate the presence of mind which commanded so bold a manœuvre, and the steadiness and confidence with which it was executed. 1 The gallant Colonel Cameron was wounded mortally during the desperate contest in the streets of the village called Fuentes d' Honoro. He fell at the head of his native Highlanders, the 71st and 79th, who raised a dreadful shriek of grief and rage. They charged, with irresistible fury, the finest body of French grenadiers ever seen, being a part of Bonaparte's selected guard. The officer who led the French, a man remarkable for stature and symmetry, was killed on the spot. The Frenchman who stepped out of his rank to take aim at Colonel Cameron, was also bayoneted, pierced with a thousand wounds, and almost torn to pieces by the furious Highlanders, who, under the command of Colonel Cadogan, bore the enemy out of the contested ground at the point of the bayonet. Massena pays my countrymen a singular compliment in his account of the attack and defence of this village, in which he says, the British lost many officers, and Scotch. Vengeance and grief gave mountain rage the rein, And, at the bloody spear-point headlong driven, Thy Despot's giant guards fled like the rack of heaven. XI. Go, baffled boaster! teach thy haughty mood To plead at thine imperious master's throne, Say, thou hast left his legions in their blood, Deceived his hopes, and frustrated thine. own; Say, that thine utmost skill and valour shown, By British skill and valour were outvied; Last say, thy conqueror was WELLINGTON ! And if he chafe, be his own fortune triedGod and our cause to friend, the venture we'll abide. XII. But you, ye heroes of that well-fought day, How shall a bard, unknowing and unknown,, His meed to each victorious leader pay, Or bind on every brow the laurels won? 1 Yet fain my harp would wake its boldest toņe, O'er the wide sea to hail CADOGAN brave; And he, perchance, the minstrel-note might own, 1 [See Appendix, Note D.] Mindful of meeting brief that Fortune gave Mid yon far western isles that hear the Atlantic rave. XIII. Yes! hard the task, when Britons wield the sword, To give each Chief and every field its fame: And Red Barosa shouts for dauntless O for a verse of tumult and of flame, Bold as the bursting of their cannon sound, XIV. ( who shall grudge him Albuera's bays,' Who brought a race regenerate to the field, Roused them to emulate their fathers' praise, Temper'd their headlong rage, their courage steel'd,2 [MS. "O who shall grudge yon chief the victor's bays."] 2 Nothing during the war of Portugal seems, to a distinct observer, more deserving of praise, than the self-devotion of Field-Marshal Beresford, who was contented to undertake all the hazard of obloquy which might have been founded upon any miscarriage in the highly-important experiment of . And raised fair Lusitania's fallen shield, And gave new edge to Lusitania's sword, And taught her sons forgotten arms to wieldShiver'd my harp, and burst its every chord, If it forget thy worth, victorious BERESFORD! Not on that bloody field of battle won, Though Gaul's proud legions roll'd like mist away, training the Portuguese troops to an improved state of discipline. In exposing his military reputation to the censure of imprudence from the most moderate, and all manner of unutterable calumnies from the ignorant and malignant, he placed at stake the dearest pledge which a military man had to offer, and nothing but the deepest conviction of the high and essential importance attached to success can be supposed an adequate motive. How great the chance of miscarriage was supposed, may be estimated from the general opinion of officers of unquestioned talents and experience possessed of every opportunity of information; how completely the experiment has succeeded, and how much the spirit and patriotism of our ancient allies had been underrated, is evident, not only from those victories in which they have borne a distinguished share, but from the liberal and highly honourable manner in which these opinions have been retracted. The success of this plan, with all its important consequences, we owe to the indefatigable exertions of Field-Marshal Beresford. [MS" Not greater on that mount of strife and blood, And clarions hail'd him victor of the day. |