The Confrontation at Salamanca Page 16

  “ I should not mention that, Sir Home, if ye happen tae meet her. She and a dozen other women were saved from some French dragoons who were abusing them. Afterwards she organized the women and we taught them how tae defend themselves wi’ modified carbines. Some o’ my less kindly colleagues called them MacKay’s harem, but in the twelve months after that, they each killed over a dozen Frenchmen apiece. Now that she is a wife and a mother, she oversees our new mortar troop. Talk tae Cholmondeley about the contact-explosive shell that the Condesa hae developed. It could prove invaluable tae the navy.”

  * * *

  Later, in the great cabin of Titan 74, Cockburn entertained Hamish and Juanita MacKay, after the new Lieutenant Colonel Cholmondeley and his servant with their two horses had sailed east.

  “I don’t know what Popham shall make of Cholmondeley, Hamish. He seems so impossibly youthful and yet I watched him deal with the French in Gijón and was thankful that we never came against anyone like him in the old days.

  Do you know, he even gave me the task of demanding the surrender of some French infantry and I took it on almost as if I had been ordered to do it. Mind you, I was thoroughly enjoying myself at the time and didn’t notice.

  What I did notice was that nothing went wrong. That hardly ever happens once the balls start flying.”

  MacKay was relaxed and nodded sagely. It was his wife who replied. “Did you know that he is absolutely deadly with any gun, Sir Charles? He is a better shot with his pistols than I am with Hamish’s Ferguson. He also practices at fisticuffs with his servant. He says it is only for exercise, but I have watched them and he is as fast as a bolt of lightning.”

  Cockburn smiled happily and raised his glass. “To you, Hamish. You knew exactly what you were doing when you let loose young Cholmondeley on Popham. I warrant he shall be involved in the planning of many of his assaults, whether the admiral is aware of it or not.”

  MacKay agreed. “The experience shall make him a better commander. He can nae longer assume that the marines shall be better than the enemy. They hae nae had the training that we hae been able tae gi’e tae the marines o’ your squadron and the Spanish are a completely unknown quantity. All I can say is that their marine regiments are said tae be better disciplined than most o’ their army conscripts.”

  “I have every confidence, Hamish, that he shall have a positive influence in the next week or so. The question is, what are we to be about, now that Popham has abandoned us to deal with the next hundred miles of coastline?”

  “Ah yes, d’ye see, I had much greater confidence in this outcome than ye seemed tae. The admiral did nae want tae deal wi’ a’ the ports and towns this side o’ Santander. It was made clear in his orders; and Sir Joshua let me hae sight o’ them; that it is the north-eastern coast that concerns Lord Wellington and the Admiralty.

  Algy possesses a silver tongue and he told Popham what he really wanted tae hear. In truth, the guerrilleros shall be joining Mendizábal by the time the admiral passes Santander. The towns and ports tae the west o’ Santander shall be our responsibility and the French shall be running between Popham, Mendizábal and ourselves, nae knowing wha tae deal wi’ first and quite unable tae match the mobility o’ the Navy.

  Caffarelli can concentrate tae face an attack frae the squadron and be unable tae get tae another one, three days march away and another three days before he hears o’ it. Popham shall hae reached it in twenty-four hours. Ye hae played the game yourself many times over the years. Young Algy shall make sure he entertains the venerables wi’ stories about a’ your exploits tae get them thinking along the right roads.”

  Cockburn stared at him. “I shall never claim that you may be more devious than Joshua, Hamish, even though it may well be true. What I find difficult to accept is that you train innocent young boys like Algy to become potentially more devious than the pair of you.

  I assume that you shall have us all on the move again in the morning, if you are to keep up with the schedule that you have evidently planned?”

  Juanita watched her husband’s face and was pleased to see that he had the grace to look sheepish.

  “I did nae wish tae bother ye, Sir Charles, until after the admiral had seen things our way. However I know that Nelson once said something like ‘tarry not an hour’ and so I did send the guerrilleros on their way yesterday. The Hornets left at the same time tae reconnoitre the ports over the next twenty miles.

  If ye weigh anchor when ye put Juanita and me ashore, ye can pick up any signals that hae been hung out in line wi’ how it hae been managed up tae now.”

  Ever since the year ’99, Cockburn and Welbeloved had, in effect been competing with each other to produce ideas and schemes for frustrating the enemy.

  During the last four years they had gone their separate ways and Cockburn had no one on whom he could sharpen his wits in quite the same way. Life had taken him unawares when it had lost some of its sparkle.

  It had now become blindingly obvious that Welbeloved had found numerous, younger protégés and had taught them to think and act exactly as he and his captain had once done.

  It was a sudden revelation that made him realize how so many of the bright young men that they had fostered between them in those early years, had since gone on to achieve high commands of their own, aided by the questing intelligence that had been nurtured by their example.

  He stifled the exasperation he suddenly felt and the knowledge that his own thinking had become less sharp for lack of the old stimulation.

  “I think it time that I put both of you ashore and got my squadron back into the war, before the Hornets have cleared Cantabria and left us all with nothing more to do.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Perhaps for the first time since he had joined his first regiment, Algy Cholmondeley appreciated his good fortune when he had made the decision not to join the marines. He could understand why the Royal Navy needed a military arm. Sailors could fight when necessary, but their main purpose was to sail their ships and man the guns. Put them on land and they would be hard pressed against trained and disciplined soldiers.

  Without doubt, the Navy needed a fighting force and Algy was sure that the marines could give a very good account of themselves, but it had never been intended that they should stand in the line of battle.

  The Admiralty was always uneasy if their marines had to fight more than ten miles from the sea. Only the very favourable publicity that the Naval Division was receiving in a period when no glorious sea battles were being won, kept them content enough to continue with their conditionally enthusiastic support for the Hornets, their own Naval Division. The irony of the situation was that none of the recruits in the German, Portuguese and Spanish battalions had any connections to the marines at all.

  This operation of Admiral Popham’s, into which Algy had been catapulted with the most unseemly haste, would seem to be designed to fit the strengths of the marines and maybe it was.

  What he found a matter for concern was that five thousand soldiers were normally designated a division and a division was under the control of a major general. Only one person in this expedition held an equivalent rank. He was Rear Admiral Popham and as his title indicated, he was not a soldier. He was also carrying, not five, but ten thousand British and Spanish marines.

  That did not have to be a problem if he was willing to follow advice offered by his senior marine officers, but Algy had met few admirals who did not hold strong opinions about military tactics and strategy. If the admiral was going to conduct this enterprise as a naval battle or even as the storming of another ship in such a battle, then Algy was in the invidious position of senior marine officer, an officer who was conveniently placed to act as scapegoat when things went badly wrong.

  The warmth with which Major MacKenzie received him was strong evidence that he had worked all this out for himself. He was most anxious to hand over responsibility forthwith. Even Algy’s blunt statement that he was here officially only in a liaison capacity wa
s rejected with a simple, heartfelt plea for help.

  He capitulated. He gave MacKenzie to understand that it could only be unofficial, but that he would accept the responsibility of his rank and stand with him when the time came for the admiral to make his intentions known.

  In the meantime, he had the major take him to the largest of the transports for a meeting with all the captains and lieutenants in his command. To his relief, he found them to be, in the main, thoroughly professional officers who devoted their career to caring for their men and understanding all the duties that they would be called upon to perform. The very nature of marine service encouraged even junior officers to take absolute responsibility, often parental in form, for small numbers of men and for the entire length of a ship’s commission.

  Having satisfied himself that everyone was more than competent in the basic business of putting a thousand men ashore and recovering them afterwards he asked for a small force to be formed from young, fit marines who had previously had experience as gamekeepers, hunters, even poachers. He needed a lieutenant, a sergeant and ten men to be sent to the flagship for further instruction.

  Then he went to see the Spanish marines and made exactly the same demands. Colonel Santana had heard all about the Hornets and was even more keen to co-operate. Being unable to speak much english had already made him feel that he and his men were undervalued. Now suddenly, here was an incredibly youthful figure of legend, speaking nearly fluent Spanish and asking for a dozen of his best men to be sent to the flagship for training to make them like the Avispónes themselves.

  Of course he could have them. He would choose the fittest and most capable himself. He needed countrymen with experience of hunting? He had many who had been shepherds and hunters and Colonel Xumley should have the best. He only wished that he could be one of them!

  Back on board Venerable, Algy was grateful that the wind was still coming, most unusually in this part of the Bay of Biscay, directly from the east. The squadron was tacking and tacking again to make headway. It was all very time-consuming and that was what Algy needed; time to prepare his Anglo-Spanish reconnaissance group and time to study all the charts available showing places where large numbers of men could be landed.

  Naval charts were largely a mystery to him, but with the tireless help of the ship’s master he got to understand that there were places with ideal beaches for landing, made completely useless by reefs and other obstacles.

  The Sailmaker and his mates were co-opted as tailors. They set to work to make twenty copies of the Hornet uniform from the darkest canvas that they could find. There were many sharp intakes of breath from the traditionalists from the marines of both nations.

  Algy was adamant. “You can wear whatever you like when this is over, but you shall be going ashore to find out what we are about to attack. No one shall come with me wearing unsuitable hats, coloured tunics and white trousers and crossbelts. The idea behind all effective reconnaissance is to find out everything you need to know, without the enemy being aware of the fact.

  You cannot see what you need to in the dark, so you don’t go prancing about as if you were on stage, when you can see. The French may be many things you don’t like, but they are neither blind nor stupid. Do I hear any more voices of people who would rather be pretty and dead?”

  If there were, they remained very sotto voce. Algy moved on to the task of attempting to improve their fitness in the close confines of a ship of war. Climbing repeatedly to the masthead and back to the deck until every muscle was in agony, was the only reasonable solution in a busy ship. Making it into a timed competition and involving some of the topmen in the crew, turned it into a sport and attracted much keen attention and illicit gambling from appreciative onlookers. The captain and the ship’s first lieutenant were persuaded to look the other way.

  Finally, there was close attention to the sea-service flintlocks. The Hornets had helped and advised on this subject many, many times, but now there was only Algy and Jenkins, his servant and old family retainer. It helped that there were only twenty pupils and that the polishing of the bore was done by each man under supervision. As it was, a scissor mould had to be made for each individual musket and each man cast his own supply of close fitting balls before he could concentrate on basic marksmanship.

  As in the early days in the Mediterranean, the carpenter made two temporary platforms outboard of the quarterdeck and the poop, giving an uninterrupted free range for target practice.

  After two days of constant target practice, with all twenty of the now drably dressed pupils doing their best to emulate the ease and terrifying accuracy of Algy and Jenkins, the admiral called him in to see him.

  Algy had to assume that Popham had been kept informed of all the unusual activity that he had initiated, but the coincidence was that the invitation to join him in his cabin occurred at the time when Venerable at last clawed her way past Santander and entered the waters in which she was to conduct her campaign.

  In truth, Algy was grateful for having been given so much time to raise a team and make them as prepared as possible for what they would need to do. He did not know whether the admiral would agree to use them or not, but if he agreed, they would be ready.

  Neither did he speculate on the reasons why he had been invited on board and then effectively ignored for nearly a week. All that really mattered was that the attacks that were to be made had to be sufficiently threatening to convince General Caffarelli that he dare not reduce his own strength in order to send help to Marmont.

  The admiral was quite relaxed, seated at a desk close to the magnificent sweep of the stern windows that illuminated the entire width of the cabin. His secretary was with him, helping to finish off whatever business he was involved with at the moment.

  As the marine sentry bellowed out Algy’s name and rank, Popham dismissed the man and beckoned him to the table, where charts of the northern coast were laid out.

  “I should have asked to speak with you long before now, Colonel, if the wind had not been so foul for us, all of this week. Had it been kinder, it is probable that we would now be contemplating our first assault and you would have been put ashore to advise General Medizábal of what we are about.

  Now, because I wish to strike at a suitable first target close to San Sebastian, it is likely to be another day or so before our first action.

  It is my intention to start with smaller harbours and use them to give the marines practice in storming ashore without facing a great deal of opposition. We have enough marines to do this at three separate locations, once every few days, so that the enemy shall not know where to concentrate his forces.

  It seems to me that the very nature of such warfare means that General Mendizábal shall have to react as he sees fit, to whatever the enemy shall do as a response to our incursions. He shall have to react to the French reaction, so to speak.

  Only when our marines are practised, shall we begin to attack larger and well-defended ports, possibly even Bilbao and Santander. That shall be when it becomes necessary for Mendizábal to create diversions. It would be disastrous to assault a port with a larger garrison than our attacking force.

  I shall welcome any thoughts that you may care to contribute, Colonel.”

  Cholmondeley was silent while he considered what he had heard. It seemed to him that the very last sentence was just that bit tentative; almost as if the admiral was seeking approval and daring him to be critical. He took a deep breath.

  “I doubt---” A frown appeared instantly on Popham’s face. “I doubt whether Lord Wellington himself could improve on the strategy that you are proposing, Sir Home. It occurs to me that the elements play a much greater role in the timing of your assaults than ever we soldiers have to consider, but then, the meanest of your sailors knows much more than I about such esoterica.”

  The frown had vanished and had been replaced by a smile, struggling not to look self-satisfied.

  “I agree entirely, mainly because of your reliance on co
-operative winds, that Mendizábal has to follow your lead until he is needed to draw troops away from more ambitious assaults. It shall do no harm, nevertheless, to keep him informed about what you are doing. Not, I stress, in advance; that always carries the danger that the French army captures someone who is in the confidence of the general.

  It is important, in the interest of good relations, that he be kept informed and feels part of a combined operation. With this in mind, before I came on board I arranged that people shall be awaiting me at certain points along the coast. Any message that you authorise can be in his hands in three days or less.”

  Popham became animated. “Well done! I have to admit to being concerned about communicating with the Spanish. The situation you describe shall be close to perfect.”

  He became relaxed and expansive. “My staff have told me about your endeavours over the last week and I thank you for your help in bringing the Spanish contingent out of the isolation caused by language difficulties.

  I admit I do not understand what it is that you have talked Major MacKenzie and Colonel--er--Santana into, with all the people rushing about and shooting while wearing sailcloth uniforms similar to your own.

  I tell myself that the Royal Navy has been sending strike forces into seaports ever since the days of Drake and Frobisher. That is what I ask of my marines now and that is what I have asked Major MacKenzie and Colonel Santana to set up. Does all this running up and down the rigging and your unconventional dress signal that you have a better way of going about it?”

  “I don’t think that one can alter the basic principles, Sir Home. If you have to capture a seaport from the sea, it is necessary to row ashore and fight for it. All that you can alter are the circumstances pertaining to that action.”

  He could see unmistakable signs of restlessness and hurried on. “Let me explain what it is I have been studying, with the invaluable assistance of your ship’s master. The main roads from France into Spain come through the Pyrenees or around the northern end of the chain and follow the coast through San Sebastian, Bilbao, Santander and westward.