Simon Scarrow - Fire and Sword

‘What now, Somerset?’

‘Sir, I’ve had reports from our scouts in the direction of Torres Vedras. They say that Junot’s army broke camp just after nightfall and started marching on Vimeiro.’

Arthur was out of bed in an instant, and hurrying to the large crudely constructed table he was using as a desk. ‘Bring your lantern over here and show me.’

Somerset leaned over the map and pointed to the town of Torres Vedras. ‘The scouts reported that the enemy were marching up to the right of the road to Vimeiro, sir.’

‘To the right of the road?’ Arthur frowned. ‘Why not on it?’

‘Perhaps they wish to avoid our patrols, sir.’

‘Hm.’

‘In any case, it appears that General Junot means to surprise us at first light.’

‘Yes.’ Arthur nearly laughed at the irony of the situation. Earlier he had been fretting about Sir Harry’s not taking the fight to the French, and here was Junot saving him the trouble. Better still, he would reach the British lines and make his attack several hours before Sir Harry arrived to take command of the army. It seemed that fate had decided to give Arthur a chance to take on General Junot after all. He leaned forward and examined the map closely for a moment before tracing his finger along the line of a ridge that ran west to east behind the village.

‘Here.This is where we will form our battle line. Send word to every commanding officer.They are to rouse their men and prepare for battle.’

The scent of myrtle filled the air as Arthur stood on the top of the ridge and waited for there to be enough light to show him the terrain to the south.The air was cool and refreshing and he allowed himself a moment to indulge the sensation. When morning came the heat would soon become oppressive but for now he relished the chill. Behind him, and spread out on either side, stood the eight brigades of his army. His army. He smiled at the phrase. They were his only until Sir Harry took command, but Arthur dismissed the thought. He would deal with that later. He must concentrate on the coming battle. His line extended to the right as far as the coast, to cover the shore where further reinforcements were due to land.The left flank rested on Vimeiro Hill, rising up just to the south of the village. It was a good position, strong enough for the British to repel any direct assaults up the slopes.

To the east the mountainous horizon was rimmed with a faint glow that slowly spread north and south and gained in strength at its centre until, with a sudden spark and distant flare of light, the sun began to rise. Very quickly the dark mantle that covered the landscape began to dissipate, shadow by shadow. Arthur raised his telescope and began to carefully scan the approaches to the ridge. Stunted growths of unused land were interspersed with occasional olive groves and vineyards and their quiet buildings, whose occupants were only just stirring, oblivious of the presence of the two armies preparing to clash over this panorama of tranquillity.

‘I can’t see any sign of movement,’ Arthur said quietly. ‘What about you, Somerset? Your eyes are younger than mine.’

There was a short pause, then: ‘Nothing, sir. Do you suppose the scouts could have been mistaken?’

‘Hardly,’ Arthur replied with a wry smile.‘Either you see an army on the march or you don’t.There’s very little middle ground.’

‘Well, what if they were mistaken about the direction that Junot was taking? Or what if Junot changed direction during the night?’

‘It is possible,’ Arthur conceded. ‘We shall discover the truth soon enough.’

But as the sun climbed into the sky and burned off any lingering mist that hung in pockets of the ground there was still no sign of the French army approaching from the south, and the peasants who lived in the houses dotted across the landscape began to emerge and tend their crops and animals without any sign of alarm.

At length Arthur checked his fob watch. Just after nine o’clock. He turned to Somerset. ‘In all the excitement I seem to have forgotten to inform Sir Harry of the night’s events.Would you be so good as to send a runner to the beachhead to pass the details on?’

‘A runner, sir? Wouldn’t a rider be quicker?’

‘It would, but we are short enough of mounted men as it is. No, I think a runner is all that can be spared at present. Now, don’t delay, Somerset. Mustn’t keep Sir Harry waiting.’

‘Of course not, sir,’ Somerset replied with a knowing expression. ‘I’ll see to it.’

Arthur nodded and returned to his examination of the surrounding landscape for a few more minutes. He was about to lower his telescope when he caught a glimpse of a flash, away to the east, amongst some trees on a ridge running past the British line. Arthur held his breath and steadied his telescope as best he could. There was another glint of reflected sunlight, and a faint tawny haze hanging in the air. Arthur scrutinised the ridge a moment longer before snapping his telescope shut and turning to his staff officers, a nervous flutter in his stomach.

‘Junot has caught me napping, by God! He means to outflank us over there.’ Arthur indicated the tree-covered ridge. ‘He has already stolen a few hours’ march on us so we must move swiftly, gentlemen.’ He turned and indicated the ridge that ran at an angle from the village towards the east. ‘That is our new battle line.Vimeiro Hill will now form our right flank and Acland, Bowes, Fergusson, Nightingall and Trant’s Portuguese are to march on to the east ridge as quickly as possible, in the same order that they were positioned on the west ridge. Is that clear? Then move swiftly, gentlemen. The race is on.’

As soon as they had received their new orders, the five brigades hurriedly descended from the west ridge, marched past the village of Vimeiro and began to climb the slopes to their new positions. After a last careful examination of the enemy’s dust cloud Arthur calculated that the French would not reach the redeployed redcoats until the latter were in position. Calling for Somerset, he spurred his horse into a trot and rode across to the east ridge. General Acland’s brigade was the first in new line and Arthur touched the brim of his hat as he reined in.

‘Well done, Acland.Your men have made good time.’

Acland was a dour, thin man, somewhat older than his commander, but he was gratified by the comment and smiled.

‘Yes, sir. The lads are keen to have a go at the French.’

‘And I am sure their keenness will be amply rewarded.’They shared a short laugh before Arthur raised his riding crop and pointed down the slope. ‘Now then, I would like your Light Companies at the bottom of the ridge.The rest of your men are to stay up here and lie down.’

‘Lie down?’ Acland frowned. ‘But the day’s barely started, sir.’

‘Easy, Acland. I am not indulging their indolence, merely trying to make them less of a ready target for enemy bullets.’

Acland was from the old school and he shook his head doubtfully. ‘I’m not sure about that, sir. It’s best to make ’em stand up to enemy fire. Last thing we want is to encourage any sense of self-preservation in the beggars.’

‘While I agree with you, it is a fact that soldiers are less easy for his majesty to come by than they are for the Emperor. So let us preserve them as we may. Now, when those fellows of Junot’s advance on the ridge, you must bide your time and wait for them to come well within range.Then have your men rise up and shoot them down.Then, in with the bayonet, when you judge the moment is ripe.’

‘Aye.’ Acland nodded. ‘That’ll please my boys well enough!’

‘Then a good day to you!’ Arthur spurred his horse and galloped on for a final inspection of his other brigades before returning to his command post. By the time he returned to the crest of the small hill south of Vimeiro, the enemy had swung round to the west and was forming columns in readiness to launch their assault. Arthur glanced north and was satisfied that the army was ready to repel any attacks they might face.The two brigades on the right flank were concealed behind the crest of Vimeiro Hill, on which twelve cannon had been positioned to cover the slopes. Down below, in the cover of boulders and folds in the ground, crouched the light infantry and two companies of rifles. Arthur nodded to himself with satisfaction. Now he would put his ideas to the test and see just how formidable the French assault columns really were.