Table Of ContentMEN-AT-ARMS SERIES
illingtonl
'Peninsular· rmy
Text b)!
JAMES LAWFORD
Colorplates b)!
MICHAEL ROFFE
MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES
EDITOR: PHILIP WARNER
fIling/on!
Peninsular rmy
-Textby JAMES LAWFORD
Colour plates by MICHAEL ROFFE
Researchfor uniforms andillustratiollS T_A_ HEATHe0 TE
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First published in the United States 1973
ISBN 0-88254-170-6
First published in Great Britain in 197 by
Osprey Publishing Ltd, P.O. Box 25,
707 Oxford Road, Reading, Berkshire
Printed in GreatBritain
"J1JllingtonsPeninsularru'Irmy
led and trained a British army that, fighting
against the French, the masters ofEurope, never
knew a major defeat in the field. Wellington
himself, whose terse unflattering comments on
his men have long been remembered, described
During Marlborough's Wars at the beginning of his army as 'able to go anywhere or do anything.'
the eighteenth century the muskets ofthe infantry Thestaffbywhich hecontrolledhis magnificent
and thegunsoftheartilleryweresmooth-bore and army reflected his own personality and the con
muzzle-loading, cavalry relied on shock tactics ditions of the time. Battlefields were small and
and the sabre, engineers based their fortifications regiments fought close together; generals could
on the principles of Vauban. When Wellington assemble all their men in a single place and trans
took the field nearly a hundred years later mit their orders by the power oftheir lungs; there
weapons had barelyaltered; afew British infantry was no need for the elaborate stafforganizations
were armed with the new-fangled rifle which the ofa later day. Napoleon it is true, co-ordinating
French had not thought worth adopting, and a the activities of a number of armies operating
few French or Polish/French cavalry regiments
used the lance as well as the sabre, guns fired pro
jectiles that were a little heavier than before and
were slightly more mobile, while the technique of
fortifications and sieges remained completely
unchanged. Over the century weapon technology
had hardly advanced at all. But paradoxically,
perhaps in part from the very fact that weapons
had altered so Iittle permitting their character
istics to be thoroughly understood, perhaps in
part because large regular armies remained con
tinuously in existence, during that century mili
tary theory, organizationally, tactically and strat
egically, made remarkable progress. After the
forcing-house of the Napoleonic wars, European
armies reached levels of technical excellence
which have probably never been surpassed, per
haps never equalled. The theories of Clausewitz,
which were to dominate military thought for the
nextcenturyand more, werealmostentirely based
on the detailed analysis he and other military
thinkers made of the principles underlying the
great battles ofthe Napoleonic period.
At the beginningofthis period the record ofthe
British army left something to be desired. But Arthur Wellesley, Duke ofWellington. He was thirty-eight
yearsoldwhen,in1808,asSirArthurWellesley,hefirstlanded
during the Peninsular War, 1808-14, Wellington inthePeninsulaandforced theFrenchoutofPortugal.
3
TheBattleofFuentesdeOnoro,BritishHeadquarters.Astaff a light dragoon and other staffofficers. In the background
officerisgallopingoffwitha ntessage. Wellington, wearing Royal HorseArtilleryare changingground (AfterStClair)
hisusuallowcockedhatandplainfrock-coat,isattendedby
hundreds of miles apart, evolved the idea of a thearmygrew biggersotheirnumbersincreased);
chief-of-staff who could interpret and elaborate in addition an officerfrom the department served
directions from the commander and even pos in each division.
sibly assist him in his planning. Wellington The duties of these officers extended to such
desired nothing of this; he wanted advice or matters as quartering, the moving ofequipment,
assistance from no one; modern planning staffs the layout of camps, duties differing little from
would have filled him with horror. In his view the those ofthe present day; but their duties also in
formulating ofplans and givingoutoforders were cluded some of those now discharged by the
the responsibility of the commanders. Staff general staff such as mapping, the compiling of
officers were there to transmit these orders and to information about the countryside and its re
smooth out minor administrative difficulties. sources, the organizing ofall forms ofmovement
In consequence, in Wellington's headquarters and the drafting of orders. The Quarter-Master
there was no eqivalentofthe generalstaff. He had General's department provided the executive
a small personal staffunder a lieutenant-colonel staffofthearmy, sofarassuch may besaid tohave
to handle his military correspondence, but the existed.
colonel was a secretary, nothing more. The most The other great department was that of the
important branch ofthe staffwas the department Adjutant-General, also under a major-general.
ofthe Quarter-Master-General. Itwas headed by Initially this comprised fourteen officers but with
a major-general and initially consisted ofa small the passage of time this number too increased;
group of officers, perhaps twelve in number (as again a staff officer from the department served
4
with each division. The responsibilities of these
officers included such matters as discipline,
statistics about unit strengths, reinforcements
etc., and differed little from those ofthe modern
'A' staff.
The distinctions between the two departments
were by no means rigid and an officer from one
might well find himselfdeputizingfor an absentee
from the other. But one thing Wellington made
absolutely clear, the function of the staff officer
was to transmittheinstructionsofhiscommander,
hehad norighttoarrogatetohimselftheauthority
ofhis general.
Besides the staffproper, Wellington kept in his
headquarters the field commanders of his en
Marshal Beresford in hand-to-hand cODlbat with a Polish
gineers, artilleryand medicalservices. In addition lancer at Albuera. He was a Dlan of iDlDlense physical
strengthandthelancerhadshortshrift
Marshal Beresford, the Commander-in-Chief of
the Portuguese army, after one disastrous ex Thehighsoundingtitlesforstaffofficershave been
perience commanding an army at Albuera, retained to the presentday, generally abbreviated
generally accompanied army headquarters, as to the initials, thereby ensuring that the army
did Sir Stapleton Cotton, from 1812 onwards the staffshould be confusing to the other services and
commander ofthe cavalry in the Peninsula. Thus incomprehensible to other nations.
Wellington had with him two senior generals At the levelofthe infantry brigade, there was a
whom he could send offat a moment's notice to single staffofficer, the major ofbrigade; he was a
takeoveranindependentcommandordisentangle captain or sometimes an able young subaltern
some unfortunate situation; it gave him a flexi drawn from one ofits regiments. During the later
bility that allowed him to dispense with the stages of the war, when regimental officers had
system ofArmy Corps originated by the French. recognized the wisdom ofwearing the same type
On the civil side there was an important of headdress as their men, staff officers could be
department, the Commissariat, under a Com distinguished by their courageous refusal to
missary General with assistants serving with abandon the traditional cocked hat.
every division and brigade. These were respon
sible for the provision ofrations and the procure
ment ofall local produce. In the nature ofthings
a thin or ill-provided commissary officer was
rarely seen, and they were apt to receive more
kicks than credit.
Working direct to Army Headquarters were
7heI¢ntry
the divisions; there was only an intermediate
headquarters when two or more were grouped
togetherfor an independent task. Herestaffs were
kept to the minimum. Leith Hay, an A.D.C. with When Wellington took the field in the Peninsula
the 5th Division, records that at the Battle of in 1808, Britain lagged behind France in the
SalamancathedivisionalstaffconsistedofColonel higher organization of her armies, divisions had
Berkeley, probably Assistant-Quarter-Master yet to beformed, and Wellingtondealtdirectwith
General, and Major Gomm, probably Deputy individual brigade commanders. In June 1809,
Assistant-Adjutant-General, and four A.D.C.s, however, he adopted the divisional organization
possibly one per brigade and one to look after originated by the French, in which a number of
the domestic arrangements of the headquarters. brigades were grouped together under a single
5
commander. Initially he formed four divisions, which had been reorganized under the command
but by 1812 the number had risen to eight of Marshal Beresford and stiffened by British
British and one Portuguese; he numbered his officers who had transferred to the Portuguese
British divisions consecutively from one to seven, serVIce.
the eighth, the most famous, was knownsimply as The composition ofthe Light Division derived
the Light Division. Each was commanded by a from an essential feature of Wellington's tactics.
lieutenant-general and usually comprised three He hadserved undertheDukeofYorkinFlanders
brigades; two ofwhich were British, each under a where he had noted how the French light troops,
major-general, and one foreign, often under a their Tirailleurs and Voltigeurs, could harass and
British brigadier-general - a rank otherwise weaken a battle line, so that when the heavy
seldom encountered in the Peninsular Army. French columns attacked it they often broke
There weresome exceptions. All three brigades through. He resolved to counter this gambit by
of the 2nd Division were British, but since it deploying forward ofhis positions such a mass of
normally operated with General Hamilton's his own light troops that the Tirailleurs and
Portuguese Division, both under the command of Voltigeurs would be held well short of his main
Wellington's most trusted subordinate, General position. As a first step towards achieving this
'Daddy' Hill, the two togethervirtuallyamounted aim, he constituted the Light Division with the
to the equivalent of a small Anglo-Portuguese function ofscreening the army both at rest and
Army Corps. In the 1st Division the foreign on the move. It consisted of only two small
brigade was from the King's German Legion brigades each containing a Ca~adore battalion
recruited by George III from the remnants ofhis (Portuguese Light Infantry) four companies of
Hanoverian Army, in the remainder (except for riflemen from the 95th (later increased when the
the LightDivision which had a peculiarorganiza 2nd and 3rd battalions of that regiment joined
tion ofits own) it camefrom the PortugueseArmy his army) and a British light infantry battalion
(the role in which the 43rd and 52nd won im
mortal fame).
The 7th Division also was rather unusual;
perhaps at first Wellington toyed with the idea
of producing another light infantry division: it
had two light infantry brigades, one containing
two light battalions ofthe King's German Legion
and nine rifle companies of the Brunswick Oel
Jagers and the other two newly trained British
light infantry battalions, the 5Ist and the 68th,
and a battalion originally recruited from French
emigres and deserters, the Chasseurs Britannique,
a regiment famous for the speed with which its
men deserted; in addition there was the normal
Portuguese brigade. This division, perhaps owing
to its diversity ofraces, never won much renown;
the malicious affected to disbelieve in its very
existence, and in 18I3 it reverted to a more
normal organization, the light infantry battalions
from the King's German Legion being transferred
to the 1St Division.
In the British brigades there were generally
three line battalions. Occasionally a fourth might
be added, and in Guards Brigades, since a
GeneralLordHill,wearingtheuniforDl ofthepost Napole
onicperiod battalionofFootGuardsinvariablyoutnumbered
6
by a considerable margin those ofthe line, there customarily split; their main function, however,
were only two. On average a brigade numbered was to deputize for him when he was away and to
about 2,000 men, but sickness and casualties, or takechargeofanylargedetachments the battalion
the arrival ofa strong battalion, could cause wide mightbecalledupon tomake;within thebattalion
fluctuations. The Portuguese brigades followed their duties tended to depend on the particular
the continental model and embodied a Ca<;adore whims or eccentricities oftheir commanders.
battalion and two line regiments each of two In the companies, the captains had under them
battalions; these had seven companies and an two junior officers, in theory a lieutenant and an
authorized strength of 750, but rarely put more ensign, but there was no set proportion between
than 500in thefield; even so, Portuguesebrigades the two ranks. Afull-strength battalion, therefore,
on average numbered 2,500 and were almost would be commanded by a lieutenant-colonel
always larger than the British. with under him two majors, ten captains, twenty
The organization of the British battalions re lieutenants or ensigns, the adjutant, (generally a
mained remarkably constant throughout the war. lieutenant), and the quarter-master; an assistant
Each was commanded by a lieutenant-colonel surgeon was normallyattached. SirDavidDundas
and consisted of a grenadier company, a light shows the strength of a company as being three
company, and eight line companies, all com officers, two sergeants, three corporals, one
manded by captains. The colonel had two drummer, and thirty privates. This must have
majors serving under him, nominally to com been at the peace-time establishment of one
mand the two wings into which the battalion was platoon. At war establishment, another platoon
Portugueseinfantry at PeDJnacor .8March .811. (St Clair) carrytheirdrumsslungontheirbacksbymeansofthedrum
The mounted officers wearing the 'stove-pipe' shako are cords. (The length ofthe drum cord was governed by this
below field rank. The pioneers are wearing bearskin caps requirement)
andleatheraprons.Theiraxesarenotvisible.Thedrummers
7
was added without any increase in the number to his men atascaleofthree twelve-men bell-tents
ofofficers. Whengoingto thePeninsulacompanies per company, the tents were carried on the mule
might number nearly 100 including a pay ser and a lighter type of camp-kettle was carried in
geant, perhaps four other sergeants and six turn by the men ofthe company.
corporals. The 5znd went to the Peninsula with Theirclothingandinparticularthatoftheofficers
54 sergeants and about 850 rank and file. But mightbecuriousandfancifuland beonlyremotely
sickness and other casualties soon took their toll, related to the regulation pattern; Wellington
and when in 1810 the znd battalion ofthe 52nd himself never worried over such matters so long
disbanded its total strength was zo sergeants, IZ as his men resembled soldiers and would not be
buglers, and 572 rank and file of whom· 10 mistaken for the French.
sergeants, 5 buglers, and 85 rank and file were
unfit for duty.
'BROWN BESS'
A battalion with 700 men present in the field
was looked on as strong, many fell well below this
figure, and some had little more than 500. In a Officers were armed with the sword, and
battalion of 700 men, deducting the musicians, sergeants with halberds or short pikes, called
the adjutant's batman, the clerks, the storemen spontoons, rather to assist them in dressing the
and others ofthat ilk likely to find their way into ranks than as weapons of offence. Most of the
headquarters - say forty men - there would be soldiers were armed with the musket, affection
660 men serving with the companies; allowing ately known as Brown Bess, that the Duke of
again for the various duties that inexorably sap Marlborough when Master-General of the Ord
thestrengthofa regimentsuch as baggageguards, nance was said to have introduced. Its barrel was
storemen, menjustgone sick, absentees and soon, about 42 inches long with a diameter of'75 ofan
the company could probably put not much more inch; its firing n;lechanism was reputedly the most
than fifty-five men into the line. Captain Sherer reliable in Europe, although at this time that was
remarked that at the Battle of Vitoria he had not necessarily a very great feat; its heavy' tri
eleven casualties out ofa company ofthirty-eight angular bayonet, 17 inches long, fitted on the
and does not comment that at this time his com barrel well clear of the muzzle. Each soldier
panystrength was abnormally low. The company carried his 60 rounds of ball made up into
for administrative purposes was divided into two cartridges, the propelling charge and the ball
platoons, but organizations were far from stan being sewn together in cartridge paper to make a
dardized and commanding officers were often small cylindrical parcel. When the time came to
men ofcharacter who liked to run their battalions load, thesoldierbitthe end ofthe cartridge, shook
after theirownfashion and did notwelcome inter a little powder on his priming pan and emptied
ference from the nincompoops of the s(aff. The the rest down the barrel; he then used his ramrod
private soldier in the ranks carried sixty rounds to ram home his ball with the cartridge paper on
of ball ammunition, a knapsack, a haversack, top to act as a wadding. When he pulled the
rolled blanketorgreat coat, a full waterbottle and trigger a spark from the flint ignited the powder
probably some other articles he had managed to in the pan which in turn caused the powderin the
acquire; his load might amount to nearly sixty barrel to explode; the proportion of misfires,
pounds. At first the heavy camp-kettles for however, could be as high as one in six and, ifthe
cooking were carried on a company mule, but powder became damp, the musket would not fire
when, in 181Z, Wellington managed to issue tents at all.
A Brown Bess, otherwise known as a Tower DlUsket, the principal firearm ofthe infantry during the war
8
Loading and firing, from a manual ofmusketry exercises. single-breastedshort-tailedcoatee.Whitegaiterscontinued
The unifonn is that ofan earlier periodj thehat had been tobewornonlybytheFootGuardsinfulldress
replacedbythe'stove-pipe'shakoin1796,andthecoatbythe
The ball was not always a very close fit in the Owing to the relative inaccuracy of the
barrel, and the gases from the exploding charge musket, the high number ofmisfires, and also the
might escape around it makingit spin and swerve moraleffectofasudden blastoffire, a volley from
wildlyin flight. Brown Besshad a certain feminine. a number of men was likely to produce a more
capriciousness; at fifty yards it could be aimed awe-inspiring result than a comparable number
with some hope of success; up to two hundred ofsingle shots, and the more concentrated the fire
yards it could be usefully fired at a group, the the more devastating it was likely to be; hence,
man actually aimed at being almost certain to throughout most of the eighteenth century,
escape harm; but over 200 yards, although the soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder in a line that
ball could carry up to 700, its behaviour was so was three ranks deep; the French experimented
eccentric that the noise ofthe discharge was more with four but found that the fire ofthe fourth was
likely to excite terror than the ball. Rates offire more likely to endanger their comrades than the
depended on how thoroughly the soldier per enemy. At this time the three-deep line was still
formed his loading drills and the care that he the normal practice on the continent as it gave
tookwhen heaimed; hecouldfireuptofive rounds the line a certain solidarity and catered for the
a minute if he was satisfied with producing an replacement ofcasualties.
imposing number of bangs without worrying
overmuch what happened to his ball; taking into TACTICS
account battle conditions a well-trained soldier
should have been capable of firing nearly three During the War of American Independence,
effective rounds a minute. especially in wild country against irregular bodies
9
