By Luis Sorando
Muzs
Translated By Caroline
Miley
Barrosa, Cadiz (15-3-1811)1
Crowned eagle of the 8th Line Infantry
Regiment
The French 8th Regiment was
surprised in line formation by a counter-attack of the 2nd battalion
of the British 87th, starting a desperate bayonet fight. Lieutenant
Edward Keogh of the 87th struck down the French eagle-bearer Gillemin2,
and helped by Sergeant Patrick Masterson he seized the eagle, but it
was recovered, beginning a bloody battle in the course of which seven
officers, French sergeant majors and privates were killed successively
in defence of their standard and the eighth, Lieutenant Gazan, riddled
with blows and wounds, finally left the eagle in Masterson's hands,
the only unhurt combatant of the English group which had initially attacked.
Raising his trophy, he shouted to his companions: "Bejabers,
boys, I have the cuckoo! 3
This eagle, the first won by the English
in the Peninsula, was presented in London on 18-5-18114
and was deposited in the Royal Chelsea Hospital (R.C.H.), until its
disappearance on the 16th April 1852, when a daring thief broke in through
the tile roof, broke its staff and took the eagle. Luckily a good drawing
of it existed, made by Lieutenant Pym of the 2nd Battalion of the 87th,
which enabled a replica of it to be made5.
The original was an eagle of the 1804 Model, which had a sheaf of rays
that the eagle held in its right claw, and with the special peculiarity
of having around its neck a gold laurel wreath with a blue enamelled
bow, which had been granted on 22-9-1808 by the town of Paris to those
regiments which had fought at Austerlitz. As a reward for this trophy
the 87th was authorized to embroider an eagle with a laurel wreath on
their flags.
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Sergeant Masterman at Barrosa
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8th Regiment's Eagle
Foz de Arouce, Portugal (15-3-1811)
Eagle of the 39th Line Infantry Regiment
In the heat of the retreat Massena's troops
began to panic and the 39th Regiment tried to cross the Ceira River6,
next to Foz de Arouce, by a ford in full flood. Some soldiers were drowned
and the regimental eagle was lost in the river. The regiment's best
swimmers tried in vain to recover it, and later Wellington, who knew
of the incident, promised a large reward to the Portuguese peasants,
who searched for the eagle for weeks, finally discovering it on 15-67.
On 6-10-18128 it was presented in London;
it is kept at the R.C.H., and corresponds to the 1804 model.
Arroyomolinos, Cceres (21-10-1811)
Flag of the 4th battalion, 40th Line
Infantry Regiment
In this action the Anglo-Spanish troops
managed to surprise and defeat the French under the command of General
Girard. The report written by the Spanish General Girn to Castaos9,
tells us of the taking of a flag: "a standard taken by the British
troops, and those under my orders took the flag of the 4th battalion
of regiment No. 40 of line infantry, that I have the honour to send
to Y.E. The enemies have also lost an eagle, but it has not been possible
up till now to find it". Of course the eagle mentioned, which
may not really have been lost, never turned up, and as far as the flag
goes, it is not clear whether it was taken by the English or the Spanish,
although the fact that it was sent to Castaos, and that its taking
is not mentioned in any English source, makes one think that it was
probably taken by the Spanish.
Badajoz (7- 4 -1812)
4 Flags
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Hesse Darmstadt
Regimental Color
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In his report Wellington said:
"the battalions of the French garrison did not have eagles,
but the flag of the garrison (the flag of the citadel) is as good
a trophy as an eagle....it is like a colander and part is totally
red with blood. The second is the flag of the Picurina fort, taken
by a brilliant assault on the second night of the Siege. The other
two are the flags of a Hessian regiment in the service of France"
10
But in his letter to the Secretary of State,
Wellington reports that his adjutant, Captain Canning, took "....the
garrison's flag and those of the Hesse Darmstadt Regiment to lay them
at the feet of H R the Prince Regent...."11.
So he does not mention the flag of the Picurina fort - surely a tricoloured
cloth sencilla flag - which must therefore never have left for England,
unless Wellington forgot to mention it in his report.
The two flags of the Graf und Erbprinz infantry
regiment of the Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt were taken in the great assault
on the city by Private George Hatton12
of the 4th infantry, after killing their bearers: one was the Colonel's
Colour, "Leibfahne", white with black and yellow rays, and
the other the battalion flag, "Ordinrfahne", black with yellow
rays, with the initials LXL (Ludwig X Landgraf) appearing in the angles.
Both were presented to Wellington, who rewarded Hatton with some money
and recommended him for promotion. The battalion flag was deposited
in the R.C.H. at least until it was stolen, many years later, apparently
by a Frenchman. The other was given to the King's Own Regimental Museum
on 28 September 1947.
Arapiles, Salamanca (22-7-1812)
Two eagles and six flags13
The eagle of the 62nd was taken by Lieutenant
Pearce of the 44th English, who appeared in front of its bearer at the
moment when he was taking it off its staff to protect it under his coat.
They got involved in a fight, in which they were joined by a 2nd eagle-bearer,
a French soldier and three English of the 44th. The French soldier was
going to drive his bayonet into the Lieutenant, when Private Finlay
shot him in the head, saving the Lieutenant's life and spraying the
eagle with the soldier's blood. The two French bearers also died straight
away, one of them killed by Lieutenant Pearce, who snatched the eagle
from the hands of one of the dead, then nailed their trophy to a sergeant's
pike, carrying it triumphantly throughout the remainder of the battle,
presenting it to Wellington the following day14.
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The Eagle of the 62nd Captured at Salamanca
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The Jingling Johnny
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The eagle of the 22nd was found on the ground
among a pile of dead by a Portuguese cazador, apparently of the 12th,
according to the memoirs of John Douglas of the Royal Scots15.
Despite this, some authors attribute its taking to Ensign Pratt of the
30th, who was outstanding in one of the Portuguese cazador regiments.
Both are kept at the R.C.H.; both correspond
to the 1804 model, that of the 62nd lacking all the socle as well as
the sheaf of rays16. Fraser mentions in
addition the taking of the eagle of the 101st, but this is not mentioned
in the English reports, it does not appear in the allegorical drawings
of the period17, and it never arrived at
London; in spite of this General d'Hautpoul, in his memoirs, says he
saw it at Westminster in 1825; doubtless he is referring to the Chinese
"Jingling Johnny", belonging to his band, which was taken
by the 88th English.
Of the 6 flags, 4 were really the small
flags used on their halberds by the escorts (eagle-bearers of the 2nd
and 3rd) of the eagles already mentioned. There were two for each regiment,
one white and the other red, kept at present in the R.C.H. that is,
only the two red ones, without their halberds or spontoons; that of
the 22nd Regiment measures 19 x 56 cm, and has a small blue border and
the motto NAPOLEN on the obverse and "22 Regt. DE LIGNE on the
reverse. That of the 62nd measures 27 x 50 cm, with a yellow border
and the motto "NAPOLEN 62nd" on both sides.
The two remaining were real flags, but unfortunately
we do not know their exact identification. We know only that both had
spear points , and that one of them was of green cloth, and was taken
by the first battalion of the 11th English infantry regiment18.
Possibly the two "ensigns", were
those used by the French battalions which did not have flags, from the
theoretical reduction of these to a single regiment.
One of these 6 flags, or small flags, was
taken by J. Scott Lillie19, another by
Lieutenant Francis Maguire of the 4th, and another (surely one of the
22nd's spontoons) by the afore- mentioned Ensign Pratt, of
the 30th.
These trophies arrived in London on Sunday
16th August, taken by Captain Lord Clinton, Wellington's aide-de-camp:
"....the drivers and horses were decorated with laurel. The
eagles and flags were deployed around the windows of the vehicle.
One of the eagles was spattered with blood, supposedly as a result
of the head of its carrier sustaining a shot while carrying it ......
the eagles and flags remained at Lord Bathurst's house"20,
and on the 30th September were deposited at Whitehall Chapel,
and today at least the two eagles and 2 of the small flags are, as I
have already said, at the R.C.H.
Bridge of Almaraz, Cceres (18-5-1812)
Flag of the 1st Battalion of the Prussian Regiment, or 4th
Foreign Regiment
According to Lieutenant General Hill's report to Wellington (Truxillo
21-5-1812):
"... the 71st regiment took a flag, belonging to the 4th
battalion of the Foreign corps, and I have the honour to send it to
Y.E."21
In fact it seems that the flag was recovered from the River Tagus,
where the demoralized Prussians of the 4th Foreign who garrisoned the
forts would have thrown it22.
It is of the French 1804 Model, with the inscription L'EMPEREUR DES
FRANçAIS/ AU RGIMENT/ PRUSSIEN on the obverse, and VALEUR/ ET DISCIPLINE/
4e BATAILLON on the reverse. Instead of an eagle, the staff has a spearhead
and the flag has a laurel wreath, without a central motif, in each of
the corners. Those of the 2nd and 3rd battalions were lost at Aersingue
in 1809. There is a small watercolour by Charles Hamilton Smith.
Madrid (12-8-1812)
Two eagles
When the English were occupying the old royal palace of the Retiro,
turned into a strong-point of the city of Madrid, they found 180 cannon
and 20,000 guns stored there and in addition, as Wellington related
in his report of the action: "... we have also found the eagles
of the 13th and 51st regiments, which I send to England to be presented
to H R the Prince Regent by my aide-de-camp Major Burgh". One
was the eagle of the 13th Dragoon Regiment and the other of the 51st
Line Infantry. Both were left there by their units, which were operating
away in detachments against the guerrillas.
The eagle of the 51st was decapitated and badly damaged, whereas that
of the 16th Dragoons of the 1804 model with its guidon was still in
a good state of repair. Both were presented in London on 30-9-1812,
and today they are kept at the R.C.H., the flag of the 16th having disappeared.
Maya, Navarrese (25-7-1813)
In 1814, an eagle of the 28th Line arrived in England, theoretically
found on the ground in the pass of Maya. Displayed at Whitehall, it
was lent by a high personage to an artist to do a drawing of it, but
it was never returned. Due to the class of personages involved the matter
was kept quiet23.
I will ignore how and when this eagle could have been taken, but it
seems improbable that it was at Maya, because this battle was a French
victory, and there is also an order from Soult almost a month later
(26-8), in which he designates the 28th as the only regiment of his
brigade authorized to continue taking its eagle into combat.
Vitoria (21-6-1813)
Flag of the 4th Battalion 100th Line Infantry Regiment
Thanks to a letter from Captain Albert of the French 100th Line24,
we know that this flag was in fact "....an old fanion of the
old 4th battalion, which was in the ambulance cart and thus fell into
the hands of the enemy...". Sent, together with Marshal Jourdan's
baton, by means of Wellington's Captain Adjutant, Mr. Fremantle, it
was exhibited at a great banquet given at Vauxhall in London on the
20th July, and is today kept at Windsor. It measures 80 x 80 cm and
has a central square, half white and half red, with N.I. in its centre,
crowned below in blue and surrounded with gold painted branches of oak
and laurel. As a border and on opposite sides there are two red stripes
and two white, and a red casing with white braid. The reverse is the
same, but with the name of the regiment.
Other Trophies
In a solemn ceremony carried out in London on the 18th May 1811 to
receive the eagle taken at Barrosa, other trophies taken previously
were involved, among them two coming from Spain, but about which we
lack all corresponding information: one was the flag of a fort, and
another the tricolour of a provisional regiment.
Other Eagles Lost, but not Taken by the English
In 1808, as a consequence of the Convention of Cintra, the French left
Portugal to return to France on board English ships. One was shipwrecked,
losing both itself and the eagle of the 86th Line, which today still
rests on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
During the retreat from Portugal in May 1809, two French regiments
lost their eagles: the 47th line buried that of its Third Battalion
at Senafelle (Spain) by order of its Colonel Donadieu, and the 18th
Dragoons made their 3 eagles disappear, one of which remained in the
possession of an officer imprisoned in England until it was given by
him to Marshal Davout in 1815.
It is said that on the 28 July 1813 the 32nd Line threw its eagle into
a Pyrenean torrent so as to avoid its also being taken by the English,
but this is impossible, since from April it was in the depot at Paris.
Perhaps someday some of these hidden eagles will reappear? Who knows?
Only time will tell.
Notes
1. Some sources say the 18th.
2. Sometimes spoken of as Guillemain.
3. The British officer Keogh died in the battle with
the eagle's guard.
4. They accompanied other previous trophies: 5 eagles
taken in the Antilles (3 of the 82nd, 2nd of the 26th and 66th); a flag
taken in Egypt (21st Demi-Brigade, seized in Alexandria by private Antn
Lutz of the Minorcan Regiment); 2 flags taken at Walcheren (2nd and
3rd Prussian Regiments); a flag of the 2nd Battalionn 5th Dutch Line,
seized at Veere, Holland (1809); a flag of a Provisional Regiment and
a flag of a fort taken in Spain.
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The Presentation of Flags: 18 May 1811
5. The sheaf of rays that was missing from the original
one has been added to this replica, but it still needs number 8 on the
socle, which did appear on it.
6. Some authors state the Coa River by mistake.
7. Marbot, Mmoires, T. II, Fraser.
8. Royal Gazette 12-11-1812: "Monday the
6 of October 1812 at the White House gave 5 eagles (Arapiles, Madrid
and another found in a brook near Ciudad Rodrigo), 4 flags and another
seized at Badajoz".
9. Extraordinary Royal Gazette 11-11-1811.
10. Regnault, op. cit. p. 232.
11. Copied in Royal Gazette, 25- 4-1812.
12. Regnault, p. 232 calls him Georges Hatfield.
13. Wellington's report says: "... we have
taken 11 pieces of artillery, several ammunition carts, 2 eagles and
6 flags, 1 general, 3 colonels, 3 lieutenants colonels, 130 officers
of lesser rank and 6 to 7,000 soldiers who have been taken prisoner......".
14. The 44th Regiment, today called the Essex, displays
in memory of this fact a small eaglet on its uniform jacket as well
as on its flags.
15. Douglas, Douglas' Tale, p. 47.
16. P Charri, Drapeaux et tendards, referring
to that of the 22nd, says on p. 122 that it is kept in the
Museum of the East Lancashire Regiment, whereas on p. 206 he states
that it is at the R.C.H.
17. On the fan dedicated to Lord Wellington (Municipal
Museum of Madrid) the eagles of the 22nd and the 62nd, as well as the
4 small flags of their escorts and 2 flags without detailing, can be
seen perfectly.
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Fan in the Municipal Museum of Madrid
18. Robinson, p. 430. P. Charri attributes it to
the 5th Bn of the Irish Legion, which at that time had already become
the 3rd Foreign Regiment, but they did not fight at Arapiles, so this
attribution is erroneous.
19. Cited in Bruce, Life of Napier, vol. 1,
p. 279.
20. The Times, 17-8-1812.
21. Royal Gazette, 20-6-1812, and AHN, diverse,
collections 189.
22. Report of General Hill, 21-5-1812.
23. Fraser, The Soldier whom Wellington led.
24. Albert to the Minister of War, 19-8-1813, quoted
by Regnault, op. cit. p. 234.
Placed on the Napoleon Series: February 2005
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