HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



197 



Buzaco. The Sierra de Buzaco is 

 connected by a mountainous tract 

 of country with the Sierra de Ca- 

 ramula : and nearly in a line with 

 the Sierra de Buzaco is another 

 ridge of the sanne description, 

 called the Sierra de Murcella. All 

 the roads to Coimbra from the 

 eastward, lead over one or other 

 of these Sierras. They are very 

 difficult for the passage of an 

 army, the approach to the top of 

 each of Uie ridges, on both sides, 

 being mountainous. 



Marshal Massena, who was ig- 

 norant perhaps of the strength of 

 the allies, and probably did not 

 expect to find them here, made a 

 bold attempt to carry their posi- 

 tion. Of the battle of Buzaco, 

 fought on the 27th of September, 

 we have tw'o accounts ; one by the 

 French general, marshal Massena, 

 and one by the commander-in- 

 chief of the allies, lord Welling- 

 ton, both agreeing in the main 

 points, that the French made si- 

 multaneous attempts to drive the 

 allies from the mountains, in two 

 different quarters : that in these at- 

 tempts the French displayed both 

 daringandperseveringcou rage, but 

 thatthey were repuUed by the allies 

 with great slaughter. Lord Wel- 

 lington's description anc^ narrative, 

 of the truth of which no one will 

 entertain a doubt, will be found in 

 the GazetteExtraordinary of Oct. 

 li, subjoined in this volume in the 

 Appendix to the Chronicle:* To 

 the particulars contained in lord 

 Wellington's letter to the earl of 

 Liverpool, add the following : — 

 During the attack on the Sierra 

 de Buzaco, although nearly the 

 whole of the French army, consist- 

 ingof the corpsof Ney, Junot, and 



Regnier, amounting to the num- 

 ber of 70 or 80,000, were under 

 arras, from 20 to 25,000 only were 

 engaged in the action ; and of the 

 allied army, fiom 50 to 60,000 

 strong, as small a proportion. The 

 line of the allied army was eight 

 miles in extent. The fourth bat- 

 talion of Portuguese Cassadoresat- 

 tacked a superior body of French 

 with the bayonet, without firing a 

 single shot. A high compliment 

 was paid to the gallantry of the 

 Portuguese by the enemy, who af- 

 firmed in his public statements, 

 that lord Wellington had prac- 

 tised the device of dressing British 

 soldiers in Portuguese uniforms. 



While our troops lay on the 

 mountain of Buzaco, lord Wel- 

 lington, in the expectation of an 

 attack gave general orders, •' that 

 if the enemy should scramble up 

 the mountain and make an attack, 

 the soldiers should let them come 

 very near them, and then, having 

 first poured the contents of their 

 muskets on them, fall on them 

 with the bayonet." — From the na- 

 ture of the ground the French ar- 

 tillery could not be brought to 

 bear with effect on the allies, 

 while that of the allies did great 

 execution among the French.— 

 Marshal Massena, during the whole 

 of the engagement, directed ill 

 the movements in person. He 

 was seen from our ranks very dis- 

 tinctly. All the marshals or ge- 

 nerals of corps, were at the head 

 of their respective divisions. The 

 Portuguese and regular corps, 

 amounted in all, at this period, tt. 

 35,000; of which 25,000 were 

 with lord Wellington. The rest 

 of the Portuguese were distributed 

 in garrisons at Abrantes, San tarem, 



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