HLI Chronicle 1914 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

124 HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY CHRONICLE.keep ReilIe occupied on the further bank ofthe Garonne, and Picton, with his 3rd Division,demonstrated against the Jumeau bridge,Freyre, whose force of Spaniards mustered. some 10,000 men, was to assail the northernend of the ridge, and Beresford, marchingalong the left bank of the Ers, was to form lineof battle in due course and was to attack theheights from the east. FreYTe and Beresfordwere to deliver their onsets simultaneously,while the Light Division kept up communicationbetween the. Spanish contingent andPicton.The 10th was Easter Sunday. The actionbegan by Picton and the Light Divisionpressing back the French advanced troopsbehind the northern reach of the canal, and1;>y some Allied cavalry seizing a bridge overthe Ers to the south-east of Toulouse, andthus gaining access to the country south ofSoult's position. Freyre and Beresford werein the meantime on the move. The latterdisposed his troops for the dangerous flankmarch between the Ers and Mont Rave inthree parallel columns, the 4th Division leadingcovered by cavalry. This arrangement ensuredthat on fronting to the right the forcewould be in three lines, each division havingthe front of a brigade. But the march hadscarcely commenced when the ground beganto prove too heavy for guns, and these had allconsequently to be left near Mont Blanc,although the rocket detachment pusped on.The column soon came under damaging artilleryfire from Mont Rave, to which no reply waspossible, and owing to swamps and wetditches it made slow progress. FreYTe inthe meantime gained possession of the Pujadespur at the extreme end of Mont Rave, andthen, either owing to some misunderstandingor else as a result of impatience, he proceededto deliver an attack upon the strong worksof Calvinet without waiting for Beresford.Advancing with great gallantry, the Spaniardsreached the point where the road from Matabiauto Perales traverses the ridge by acutting in a small dip; but then they cameunder a murderous enfilade fire from gunsabout Matabiau; they could not face thetempest of musketry from the redoubts thathad to be stormed, and a furious counterattackby the French rolled them back inconfusion and with devastating loss.Almost simultaneously Picton, whose rolehad been to demonstrate, assailed the Jumeaubridge, and was repulsed, and Wellingtonfound himself with no troops available torepair the Spanish disaster. The Light Divisionhad become his sole reserve, and victoryor defeat now depended upon Beresford'sisolated force, which was still pursuing itsway to overlap the French right on MontRave. The further Beresford marched thenarrower became the space between the Ersand the ridge, and the more severely histroops suffered from the French artillery.The leading files had constantly to halt soas to allow the rear to close up. Marchingin comparatively solid formation, the twodivisions offered an ideal target for theprojectiles of' the French gunners. Soult,moreover, had not failed to take note of thesingular movement threatening his right,and had hurried reinforcements to this quarter.Proposing to assail the column in flank whileit was still on the move, he ordered Taupin'sdivision and a brigade to sweep down fromthe heights and to fall on, while a strongbody of French horse was directed to strikeBeresford from the rear. But a hitch occurred,and the offensive movement only actuallytook place just after the opposing troopshad at last reached the point where theircommander intended to form line of battlepreparatory to assailing the heights.THE SIXTH DIVISION U:NDER CLI:NTON.The 4th Division, under Lowry Cole, waspast the St. Sypiere redoubt, and the bruntof the affray that ensued fell upon the 6thDivision under Clinton. This had Lambert'sBrigade (11th, 36th, and 61st) on the rightduring the march, Pack's Scots Brigade (42nd,79th, and 91st) in the centre, and Douglas'sPortugese brigade on the left; but Clintonappears to have checked Pack and Douglasbefore the division reached its position, sothat, on fronting, Lambert and Pack werein line, with the Portugese in support. The4th Division, on the other hand, was in threelines, one brigade behind the other. Thetwo divisions were just preparing to assailthe heights when swarms of French troopsappeared on the slopes and charged do'l'.'l1upon Lambert's brigade and upon a provisionalbattalion of the 2nd and 53rd, which formedthe right of Cole's front brigade. But Taupin'smen faltered in face of the stalwart bearingof the British infantry; as soon as theyarrived within musketry range they werereceived with a withering fire, they weredisconcerted by the rocket fire, which was anentirely new experience to them, they cameto a standstill, and' then they sullenly beganto give ground. Pack's battalions were in