Bussaco 1810
The early years of the battalion were spent in ineffective and unnecessary enforced travelling. But in 1809, with 1,000 men they embarked for the Peninsula. They were placed in Rowland Hill's 2nd Division and brigaded under Catlin Crawford. By the following year, Wellington was retreating before Massena's army and found a strong defensive position on Bussaco ridge to stand and fight. The 34th were on the right of the line when the battle began at dawn on the 27th September 1810. Most of the action took place in the centre and left of the line and the 34th along with other units remained mostly unscathed.
Albuhera 1811
The Battle of Albuhera was one of the bloodiest in the history of the British Army, and the 34th suffered great loss on this day, 16th May 1811. They were still in the 2nd Division, this time under Stewart, and in Abercrombie's brigade. The allied commander, Beresford, whilst besieging Badajoz was alerted to the advance of Soult with a force of 25,000 to relieve the city. Taking his force of British, Spanish and Portuguese, they were preparing for battle around the town of Albuhera when Soult arrived and appeared to threaten the Allied centre. But more French troops came in from the south and Stewart's division was sent to support the Spanish brigades. A hail storm dampened their powder and a murderous cavalry charge of Vistula Lancers tore into Colbourne's brigade, one third of Stewart's Division. The four battalions that made up the brigade were practically wiped out. The other two brigades, numbering 3,700 drew themselves up to face 7,800 French infantry to exchange volleys. They were about 20 yards apart and fired at each other for nearly an hour. Beresford desperately tried to get some Spanish infantry to help the dwindling battalions but in the end the 4th Division came to their aid and a spirited charge by the 7th and 23rd Foot drove the French back. Soult retired away from Badajoz but the British were in no fit state to pursue them. The British lost more than 4,000 men, the Spanish 1,300 and the Portuguese nearly 400. The French lost 7,000.
Arroyo dos Molinos 1811
Towards the close of the fighting season, Rowland Hill pulled off a bold move against General Girard at Arroyo dos Molinos. Today the place is called Arroyomolinos which is near Alcuescar, 70 km northeast of Badajoz in the Spanish region of Extremadura. The 34th were in Wilson's 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Division, commanded again by Hill. They march in terrible weather and surrounded the French in Arroyo during the night of the 27th October. At dawn on the 28th, the weather was still bad so the French sentries were not as attentive as they should have been. The Allied attack was a complete surprise and a success except for the loss of 100 men. The French lost 750 and the number of prisoners taken was 1,300. By coincidence the 34th fought against the 34e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne. They accounted for most of the prisoners. The French lost all their baggage and loot and the 34th seized the drums and drum-major's mace from their opposite number. These have been treasured trophies of the regiment ever since.
Vittoria 1813
The 34th were not in the thick of this battle. They were in O'Callaghan's brigade in the southern sector. The battle began at 8.30 on 21st June and was a total victory for the British, Spanish and Portuguese army. Unfortunately the defeated French were not pursued to the border because a huge haul of booty was discovered in a wagon park and this was too tempting for the allies.
Pyrenees 1813
Wellington needed to wait and see how things developed in northeast Europe before attempting an invasion of France. He decided to establish a line of defence in the Pyrenees between San Sebastian and Pamplona. Whilst those two cities were being besieged, the French launched an offensive to push the allies out of the mountains and relieve the French garrisons. Soult was now in command and there were only 3 ways he could march through the mountains; the Great Road from Bayonne to San Sebastian and the two passes at Maya and Roncesvalles. He chose the latter two, advancing on 25th July 1813. The 34th were in Stewart's Division at Maya which came up against D'Erlon's Corp. The outposts were swept back and reinforcements were sent in piecemeal which was a bad mistake. Out of 6,000 British troops, 1,500 were killed. The pass was now in French hands and the troops withdrew towards Pamplona. Things did not go so well at Roncesvalles either, and Wellington was riding around at great speed to organise a confrontation at Sorauren. The morale of the retreating divisions improved markedly under Wellington's command by the time battle commenced on 28th July. There was fierce fighting all day until late afternoon, resulting in the loss of 1,360 British, 1,100 Portuguese and 200 Spanish. Soult's progress had been blocked but it was not until 2nd August that he was driven back over the border.
Bidassoa 1813
Wellington's crossing of the Bidassoa was well planned. Near the mouth of the river where it was 1,000 yards wide, it was discovered that at certain tides the water was low enough to wade across. One of these low tides was set to occur on the 7th October. The sappers were ordered to build an earth wall near the west bank of the river to hide troops before they crossed to the east bank. This crossing was made successfully and the ensuing battle resulted in low casualties. The crossings higher up the river met with stiffer resistance but the 34th were not involved in hard fighting on the right of the Allied line.
Nivelle 1813
Marshal Soult organised defences along the Nivelle river but his force of 60,000 was stretched too thin, all the way to Roncesvalles. After Pamplona had fallen at the end of October, Wellington felt confident enough to advance to contact. The French had fortified hills along the east bank and on 10th Nov the Allies attacked. Some of these positions were tougher to take than others and some regiments took heavy losses. Wellington outnumbered Soult, having 80,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops. The 2nd (including the 34th) and 6th Divisions were on the right of the line under Rowland Hill. Again, they were spared too much loss, although the army as a whole suffered 2,450 casualties against the French loss of 4,350.
Nive 1813
The 2nd Battalion, 34th, as part of the 2nd Division were under Hill's command at this battle. The battle began on the 9th Dec although it was not until the 12th that they found themselves involved in heavy fighting on the east bank of the Nive at St Pierre. Hill's Divisions (2nd, 3rd and 6th) numbering around 14,000 had been cut off from the rest of the army after their pontoon bridge at Usteritz was washed away in the swollen river. Soult concentrated his attack on them and there was difficult situation for several hours before Wellington could bring reinforcements and drive the French off. The mild-mannered Hill had been under such stress that he was heard to swear, for only the second time in the whole war. When Wellington heard this he said," If Hill has begun to swear, they must all mind what they are about."
Orthez 1814
Soult pulled back from Bayonne, leaving a strong garrison there. He set up defences on a ridge the other side of the river Gave de Pau. The British and Portuguese crossed the Adour on the 24th February and when the battle began on the 27th Beresford's Divisions were already on Soult's side of the Gave de Pau. Hill's 2nd and Portuguese Divisions on the right were to cross the river above Orthez and turn the left flank of the French position. The attacks proved too much for the French who took heavy casualties, and they retreated.
Toulouse 1814
The battle of Toulouse was unnecessary as Napoleon had already abdicated. The news did not reach Soult in the city of Toulouse until the evening of the 10th April while the siege was in progress. The Allied plan was to secure the heights to the east while Hill's Divisions, including the 34th were to make a diversionary attack on the city. Soult decided to surrender, but only after 600 Allied troops had been killed and 4,000 wounded.
Battle in the Pyrenees