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ORDAL NECK ACTION
We will try an approach to
what happened in Ordal from September
12, 1813. The Ordal belongs to the
current municipality of Subirats,
three leagues from Villafranca.
General Suchet, in command of a force
of some 30,000 men, was seeking to
maintain communications with Lleida
and so he decided to install his
headquarters in Molins del Rey pending
future military actions.
On the night of the 12th and
13th of September, Suchet went to the
Ordal, where he expected to find the
troops of the British General Frederic
Adam, who in turn was the vanguard of
the army commanded by General Lord
Bentink, camped out. Adam's Division
was made up of some 1,200 men from the
most diverse backgrounds: Germans,
Calabrese, English and Swiss , a
Cavalry Squadron and a mounted
Artillery train. From the day before
it also had three Sarsfield
Battalions, a Spanish Battalion, with
two 8" artillery pieces.
All of them seem to be located
in the heights | heights of the Port
of the Ordal, presenting a wide
The team has been able to keep
up with all the accidents on the
ground, and has also been able to rely
on rapidly built defences in some
areas considered vital in the
offensive. The place was well chosen,
since it seems (we do not know the
real orography of the place) that it
was an easy point of defense, as long
as the expeditious communication with
the rest of the Corps that composed
the Anglo-Spanish army could be
maintained. This consideration was
basic, however it seems to have been
ignored by the general in chief.
Days before, General Bentink,
from his headquarters in Villafranca,
made the mistake of disbanding his
army, diminishing it vitally by
sending the Third Army up the river
Ebro, to participate in the blockade
of Tortosa, endangering even his own
headquarters.
The road to San Sadurní
represented the greatest danger. If
the enemy thought of making a detour,
they could attack the rear of the
forces waiting to be stationed in the
Ordal and even continue towards
Villafranca. Adam's troops were
deployed as follows: on the right
(towards Villafranca), the English,
then occupying the ruins on the side
of the road, the Germans and Swiss
with their artillery pieces lining the
road, the Calabrese in the center and
the Spanish on the left and back in
reserve the Cavalry.
To bivouac calmly, when on the
clear midnight of the 12th, the French
manage to surprise the careless troops
that are dragged to their fast and
well calculated attack. Easily
overtaken by the outposts, the French
break down the defences where they
were placed with so many offensive
hopes, those pieces served by the
Germans and Swiss. Only the components
of the 27th British and Calabrian and
Spanish Regiments resist, facing the
7th Gallic Regiment on the front and
on the right wing the furious attacks
of the 44th French Regiment. For two
times they rejected the attacks, even
that on having fallen wounded in the
head Adam, the English withdraw and
remain only the Calabrese and Spanish
to the command of the colonel Jose de
Torres, of the Regiment of Volunteers
of Aragon, Shooters, Knobs of Cadiz
and diverse Companies of Grenadiers of
Ultonia to the command of the captain
Rafael Larruda.
The French under the command
of General Mesclop, of the Harispe
Division, attacked the position twice,
and as many were rejected. This time
served to incorporate the men of
Tiradores de Cádiz and two other
Companies from Calabria, who slipped
down the paths, bravely going down to
reinforce their companions. The
unexpected resistance opposed by those
brave soldiers forced the French to
send new columns formed by the Reserve
of their Division, under the command
of General Delort, to attack and flank
that nucleus of resistance that was
causing so many delays in the final
outcome of an operation that had begun
so favourably for the French.
The colonel of the Cadiz
Regiment, Antonio Bray, was awarded
the San Fernando Cross. Among the
British chiefs, Commander Bugeaud
stood out at the head of his
battalion. At the same time, he sent
the Habert Division to the left to
make the last and decisive general
attack. If we were to give an overview
of what was happening at the Ordal, we
would see some 3,000 men of the
Spanish-British army, facing some
9,000 or 10,000 Frenchmen. While a
little further away already, General
Decaen heads for Martorell, to
organize himself and attack Sant
Sadurní and Villafranca.
General Lord Bentink did not
participate in anything, his troops
were still unarmed in Vilafranca,
(even though he had guaranteed Adam
that there would be no attacks in the
next few days) and logically the
attack would come by surprise, just as
it had been for those in the Ordal .
We had left the braves who were still
resisting at the Ordal, but the
continuous attacks and the discontent
of seeing that they were not being
sent reinforcements, meant that after
more than an hour of repeated attacks,
they too ended up seeking their
salvation and began to retreat, some
to Vilafranca and others to Sant
Sadurní. It seems that the British
General Bentink, when he surrendered
parts in Wellington, said: "The only
consolation I can offer is the courage
of the English and Spanish, of the
solidity and courage of the latter.
Every British officer here speaks in
terms of the greatest admiration. The
casualties of the Ordal's action were:
" 28 dead, 78 wounded and 38 bruised,
among the British. 87 dead, 239
wounded withdrawn from the
battlefield, and 132 left on the
field.
Having overcome the allied
resistance, the French continued their
victorious march towards Villafranca.
The heroic General Manso did not
participate directly in the fight
against Suchet's troops in the Ordal;
he had done so the day before, when he
took prisoner an Italian battalion
that was stationed in San Sadurní on
the 9th, when he surprised Pallejá the
7th French Regiment and inflicted a
very serious defeat on him, since in
their confrontation they lost the
troops of the 2nd Battalion of Hussars
and another complete Italian
battalion.
The battle of the Ordal
was the last victory of the Napoleonic
army in the spain. |