724 



Britain, 



Battle'of 



Busaco. 



the direction of Guards and Celerico ; afterwards 

 cross ' n S tlle Mondego by the bridge of Fornos, the 

 three corps of Ney, Junot, and Regnier, under their 

 commander in chief, united on the 21st at Vizeu, 

 where they halted for two days to bring up their ar- 

 tillery, which had been delayed by the badness of the 

 road. Colonel Trant, who commanded a body of Por- 

 tuguese militia and ordenenga, attacked an escort of 

 the reserve artillery, and made some prisoners, but 

 was obliged to retire towards the DourO. The Bri- 

 tish cavalry, under General Cotton at Celerico, with- 

 drew from that place, following the route of the 

 combined army, which had retired by the .Val de 

 Mondego to the position of the Sierra de Marcella, 

 behind the river Alva. The enemy pushed on his 

 advanced guard fromVizeu on the 21st, as far as San- 

 ta Comba Dao, at the junction of the rivers Criz and 

 Dao. Brigadier General Pack, who had been sta- 

 tioned at this point with his brigade, after destroying 

 the bridges over these rivers, retired across the Criz, 

 and joined General Crawfurd at Mortagao. On the 

 25th, the enemy crossed the Criz with two corps of 

 his army ; Generals Crawfurd and Pack retreated to 

 the position of the Sierra de Busaco. As it appear- 

 ed that the intention of the enemy was to force this 

 position, and by that means to possess himself of 

 Coimbra, Lord Wellington made a movement to his 

 left, crossing the Mondego with the whole of his 

 force, except one brigade of British which he left to 

 cover his right flank, and a dirision of British and 

 Portuguese cavalry which remained in front of the 

 Alva, to keep the enemy's cavalry in check. 



At six in the morning of the 27th of September, 

 the enemy made two attacks on the position of our 

 whole army, the one on the right, the other on the 

 left, of the highest point of the Sierra de Busaco. 

 They were repulsed in both quarters. The loss of 

 the allies in killed, wounded, and missing, was above 

 1200. The loss of the enemy in killed, wounded, 

 and prisoners, was computed in our reports at 10,000. 

 The French gave it out at 1100; and, by our own 

 accoSnt, the prisoners whom we took did not exceed 

 386. The French also tell us, that their whole ar- 

 my was not engaged, but only two brigades of it; and 

 that, in fact, they amused Lord Wellington with 

 this portion of their army, while they came round with 

 their main force to get between his rear and Lisbon. 

 The immediate consequences of this victory at Busa- 

 co, which was announced by the firing of the Park 

 and Tower guns, by no means confuted this last as- 

 tertion of the enemy. 



Massena did not renew his attack on the 28th, ex- 

 cept by " //;." fire of his li^iit troops ;" but he moved 

 a large body in such a direction, as induced his lord- 

 ship to withdraw from the mountains of Busaco, and 

 to take his army in a southern direction, that is to say, 

 nearer to Lisbon, to his strong holds, his shipping, and 

 his reinforcements. His lordship add -tin the same dis- 

 patch, that the,enemy's communication with Almeida 

 was cut off, and that Massena possessed only t he giound 

 on which he stood. The Spaniards, too, according to 

 Lord Wellington's dispatches, dated Coimbra, 30th of 

 September, were collect): g an army of 20,000 men in 

 the north; and the armedpeasantry, with the Portu- 

 guese regulars, under Colonels Millar and Trant, 



6 



BRITAIN. 



were operating on Massena'a communication, whos* 

 men were deserting by hundreds, and dying of hun- 

 ger. These were cheering statements. Neverthe- 

 less it appeared, by his lordship's dispatches, dated the 

 6th of October, that our army had retired gradually, 

 first to Pombnl, next to Leyria, and next to Alcoba- 

 51, having skirmished daily with the French du- 

 ring this retreat of 70 miles, in the space of 6 days. 

 The retreat of the combined army drew after it the 

 whole of the enemy's disposable force, except such as 

 \v< re left to guard the sick and wounded at Coimbra. 

 Colonel Train finding his communication with the 

 combined army cut off, retired in the direction of 

 Mialhada, where he expected to have been joined by 

 the corps of militia and ordenenca, under Genera! 

 Millar and Col. Wilson ; but finding that these corps 

 were delayed in the vicinity of Busaco for want of 

 supplies, he formed the resolution of advancing alone, 

 in order to dislodge the French who remained at 

 Coimbra. Reaching that place with a slight resist- 

 ance from straggling parties of the enemy, he made 

 prisoners to the number of 5000, principally sick and 

 wounded, and captured between three and four thou- 

 sand muskets. 



Lord Wellington took up his first line of defence, 

 after his long retreat from Busaco, in a strong posi- 

 tion between Alhandra and Torres Vedras. From 

 this position he afterwards retired, throwing back his 

 left flank by Mafra, and occupying a range of moun- 

 tains which extend from Alhandra to the coast near 

 Mafra. In this position the passes of Bucellas, Ca- 

 becha de Maritachique, and Mafia, are the principal, 

 features of the country ; and through each of these 

 points a road leads from Torres Vedras to Lisbon, 

 These passes are extremely strong by nature, and 

 were further strengthened by redoubts and batteries. 

 The right of his position was covered by the Tagus, 

 and a number of gun boats were stationed on that 

 river, for the purpose of annoying the enemy if he 

 should make an assault in that direction. The ene- 

 my remained inactive in front of this position for the 

 space of a month, his right being on Sobral, and his 

 left flank at Villa Franca. Abrantesand Peniche, in his 

 rear, were garrisoned chiefly by the Portuguese mili- 

 tia, which, on several occasions, intercepted his fora- 

 ging parties, and took some prisoners. Lord Wel- 

 lington was joined, a short time after he had taken 

 up his line of defence, by a Spanish corps of about 

 9500 men under the Marquis de Romaiia. In this 

 state the contending armies continued until the 14th 

 of November, when Marshal Massena retired from his 

 right, by the road of Alemquer towards Alcoentre, 

 and from his left by Villa Nova, continuing his re- 

 treat to Santarem, where he halted and took post. 

 The allied army broke up from its position on the 

 morning of the 15th, following the march of the ene- 

 my as far as Cartaxo, where Lord Wellington esta- 

 blished his head-quarters. In these movements about 

 400 prisoners were taken from the enemy. General 

 Hill's corps, at the same time, passed in boats, 

 across the Tagus at Valada. By this retreat, Mas- 

 sena secured the passage of the Zezere ; the power 

 of withdrawing into Spain by the line of Castello 

 Branco; a junction with his expected reinforcements; 

 and a country not yet exhausted, \vh:ch afforded sug- 



Bfirain. 



ORGEUL 



1810. 





Colonel 

 Trant cap 

 tin es about 

 5OOO 

 1'renck. 



