Page 78 - Bugle Autumn 2014

Ex SALAMANCA BUGLE
A total of 24 officers and warrant officers flew from Heathrow on 12th May to embark on a battlefield study in Salamanca, Spain. We headed immediately to the Spanish frontier town of Ciudad Rodrigo – arriving for a late supper at the hotel where we were to be based for 3 nights. Early on the first day we set off in order to pick up the Peninsular War story chronologically, starting in the winter of 1810 at the 95th Rifles border outpost of Barba del Puerco, overlooking the dramatic Agueda River gorge.
We were lucky enough to have with us as our guide Major General Ashley Truluck CB CBE (Retd.) who has had a life-long fascination for military history and has led many battlefield tours, taking a particular interest in Wellington’s campaigns. General Truluck gave us a blow by blow account at every location and consistently linked the action back to our antecedent regiments.
After visiting Barba del Puerco we moved for a short break at Fort Conception, the spiritual home of the Light Division at this period, before moving on to study the combat on the Coa, where the Light Division narrowly escaped disaster. We then ended the day at the border fortress of Almeida, the scene of a cataclysmic explosion (a complete accident caused by a private soldier!) in August 1810.
On the Wednesday we moved forward to 1811, to follow the battle of Fuentes de Onoro, the scene of a vicious FIBUA battle in the village itself and manoeuvre warfare on the plains just outside. We then visited Wellington’s headquarters at Freneda, moving on to follow his classic siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in the afternoon.
The thing that struck us most about the battles was the sheer numbers of people involved. Literarily tens or hundreds of thousands of troops against similar sized opponents made the battles very hard to imagine. However, with General Truluck’s excellent knowledge and our ability to overlook the ground this became all the more achievable.
On the fourth day we followed the route of Wellington’s advance from Ciudad Rodrigo into central Spain. Most of the day was spent reliving the Battle of Salamanca, a town that the whole group had been looking forward to visiting since the start of the trip. We had heard rumours of cathedrals, unaltered buildings,
a beautiful university and (apparently) an exceptional nightlife. The warrant officers were especially looking forward to this and
The Adjutant engrossed by Maj Gen Ashley Truluck
the atmosphere at the back of the bus (where they had been for every leg!) was excitable!
The final day brought us to examine how the remnants of the French Army escaped over the bridge at Alba de Tormes after Salamanca. In the afternoon we visited the hamlet of Garcia Hernandez before heading to Madrid in order to return to the UK.
By the end of the trip it had aptly been labelled a 3 C’s operation – Carafes, Cured Meats and, most importantly, Culture. It was an excellent reminder of our origins as Riflemen and all in all a extremely insightful excursion.
2Lt Tom Jamison, B Company
Many of the battlefields are virtually unchanged since the Peninsular War.
76 FOURTH BATTALION
THE RIFLES