Excerpts from a Subaltern in America
When I overtook the skirmishers, they were in full pursuit of the Americans, now flying with all precipitation before them. The wood was accordingly emptied in a trice ; but on reaching its skirts, we found what we had, to say the truth, expected to find, that the riflemen now dislodged were nothing more than the outposts, or rather advanced corps, of a regular army. At the opposite extremity of a few open fields, about six or seven thousand men were drawn up in line. Their left resting upon a lake, and their right extending to the mouth of a creek ; their centre was protected by high palings, and a row of lofty trees, whilst all before them was exposed and bare, to the distance of nearly half a mile. Of artillery, they appeared to have some six or eight pieces in the field. These were arranged, two upon the main road, which fell in towards the right of the position, three somewhat farther to the left, and the remainder singly, and at different intervals between the corps of infantry. About half-musket shot in front of them, was a farm house, surrounded by numerous barns, stables, and a stack-yard. Whether or not they had filled it with troops, we had no means of ascertaining ; but it occurred to Charlton that it might be worth while to seize it, in case they should have neglected a measure to them of so much importance. With this view, we lost no time in rushing on. We sprung over the paling, and having received two discharges of grape from the guns upon the road, reached the house in question, with the loss of only three men. The enemy had not occupied it ; we took possession without delay ; and rejoicing sincerely in the error of which they had been guilty, determined that no efforts should on our parts be wanting to hinder them from retaking it.
Established in this snug post, abundant leisure was granted for observing as well the dispositions made by the enemy to receive the attack, as the advance of our own troops to make it ; and a most animating spectacle both the one and the other presented. On the side of the Americans, mounted officers could be seen riding backwards and forwards, apparently encouraging their men to do their duty. Some companies moving from its rear, wheeled up into the line; others quitting the line, fell back towards the reserve. But the corps which attracted the chief share of our attention, consisted of the identical riflemen, whom we had so lately driven before us out of the wood. They continued for some time to drop in, by sections of eight, six, and ten, and taking post in rear of the line, resumed, as they best could, something like order. Nor were other manifestations of a resolution to keep their ground wanting. Several tumbrils and ammunition wagons arriving, were speedily emptied of their contents ; and casks of cartridges, ranged at intervals behind the men, bore testimony to the zeal with which the store-keeper’s department had been attended to. Such was the condition of affairs on the right. Away towards the left, again, a good deal of marching and counter-marching went on ; but whether it arose from some mismanagement in the original disposition of the force, I cannot tell. It struck me, however, as being highly injudicious, to render raw troops thus unsteady, at the very moment when they were about to come under fire; and I confess that I did not augur very favourably of the determination which, on that flank at least, the Americans would exhibit. Lastly, the heads of two columns appearing in the skirts of the more remote thicket, pointed out how the reserve was stationed, and almost told of what numbers it consisted. How different was the prospect to which a glance towards our rear introduced us ! We had taken possession of the farm-house perhaps ten minutes or a quarter of an hour before the leading divisions of our own troops began to emerge from the forest. As soon, however, as they showed themselves, a flank movement to the right was made, and the 85th regiment, in beautiful regularity, spread itself at extended order, over the whole of the enemy’s front. The seamen, who came next, marched straight forward along the road, till they had arrived within cannon shot of the American line, where they halted. The 4th Regiment arriving after them, wheeled off, as the 85th had done, to the right; but instead of extending itself, filecj along in column ohalf companies, by the rear of the light troops, till it was lost to farther observation in a grove. A similar movement was made by the 44th, and a battalion of Marines, who, forming line in the open field, stood to support the skirmishers; whilst the 21st, taking up its ground on the road, came in on the rear of the column, of which the seamen constituted the front. All these formations were executed with as much coolness and precision as if the whole had been nothing more than a review ; and in the eyes of us, who watched it, the spectacle was in the highest degree interesting.
In the meanwhile, neither the American artillery nor our own remained idle. The head of the column no sooner appeared, than the enemy’s pieces which commanded the road opened upon it, and though the range was somewhat long, did considerable execution. To check this. Captain Carmichael, by whom the British artillery was commanded, instantly ordered two guns and a howitzer to the front, and pushing them forward within point-blank distance of the Americans, soon paid them back, with interest, in their own coin. I do not know that I ever saw shots more accurately thrown. At the first discharge, five American gunners were killed ; at the next, one of the pieces was disabled ; upon which, turning their attention to the infantry, our artillery-men mowed them down by whole sections. On the side of the Americans, again, all was stillness and expectation. The corps which, up to this moment, had been continually changing their ground, now stood fast. The whole were in line, and, with shouldered arms, appeared to watch the progress of their enemies, like men who were determined not to be beaten. I thought, indeed, that I could perceive a little wavering at one particular point. It was a spot towards their extreme left, which, in the course of the cannonade, had received more than its due proportion of salutations ; but whether I was correct or not, it is impossible for me to say, inasmuch as the vision became almost instantly obscured by columns of smoke. The Americans had in their line several pieces of cannon, from which no discharges had as yet taken place. What their object was in keeping them so long idle, I know not; perhaps they imagined that their fire, when opened unexpectedly, would produce a double effect, — and, on that account, reserved it for the attack. Be this as it may, our infantry had not advanced ten paces, when a volley of grape was poured upon them from every gun in the field; and the plunging of balls all along the grass, the crashing of rails, trees, and other objects struck, as well as not a few prostrations among the soldiers themselves, gave proof that the salutation was not less serious than noisy. I hardly know what language to employ for the purpose of conveying to the mind of a reader, who possesses no practical acquaintance with the subject, something like a clear idea of a battle, at that period in its progress at which we have now arrived. Volley upon volley having been given, we were now advanced within less than twenty yards of the American line ; yet such was the denseness of the smoke, that it was only when a passing breeze swept away the cloud for a moment, that either force became visible to the other. It was not, therefore, at men’s persons that the fire of our soldiers was directed. The flashes of the enemy’s muskets alone served as an object to aim at, as, without doubt, the flashes of our muskets alone guided the enemy. At last, however, the wind suddenly sprung up. The obscurity in which both parties had been enveloped was cleared way; and there, sure enough, stood our opponents, not, as they had stood an hour ago, in close and compact array, but confused by the murderous fire to which they had been exposed. Napoleon Buonaparte has affirmed, that he never witnessed anything more terrific than the fire of a British line of infantry. The ex-emperor was perfectly correct. In the armies of other nations, particularly in those of America, many marksmen, more expert as individuals, may be found; but we may search the world over before we shall discover troops who, as a body, take aim with the same coolness, reserve their fire so well, or, as a necessary consequence, pour it in with such tremendous effect as our own soldiers. Of this the Americans had to-day received the most appalling proofs; numbers lay dead among the feet of their comrades; numbers more had retired maimed or wounded; and those who still kept the field, were broken and confused. One thing alone was required to complete the rout. Our gallant fellows, uttering a hearty cheer, threw in their last volley, and then rushed forward with the bayonet; but a shock, which the flower of European armies had never been able to withstand, the Americans ventured not to receive. They lost in a moment all order, and fled, as every man best could, from the field.
There was but one road along which horses or carriages could move, and it became crowded to excess in a moment. Whilst the infantry, dashing into the forest, thought to conceal themselves among its mazes, the cavalry, of which a few squadrons had been drawn up upon their right, scampered off by the main road ; and was immediately followed by guns, tumbrils, ammunition waggons, and the whole materiel of the army. To arrest the progress of all, or some part of that force, became now our great object. ” Hurrah for the guns was a word of command first uttered by Colonel Brooke ; it was repeated, with loud laughter and tumultuous outcries, from one rank to another ; and desperate and unintermitting were the efforts which we made to overtake and cut off such as were hindmost. But unhappily the absence of even the mounted troopers told sorely against us to-day. The truth of it is, the American ordnance, drawn by fleet horses, readily escaped. And out of the whole party, only two guns, and one tumbril alone, fell into our hands. Of prisoners, however, we were fortunate enough to secure a few. The fourth regiment, which had made a detour for the purpose of turning the enemy’s left, though it arrived not in time to take much share in the action, succeeded in cutting off about half of a battalion from the high road ; and this body, driven back upon its pursuers, saved itself from annihilation by laying down its arms.