At the end of October 1808 the Emperor Napoleon, at the head of a
large French army assembled in the northern Spanish city of Vitoria, prepared to place his brother Joseph
on the throne of Spain by force. Several Spanish armies gathered to resist him and the British corps in
Portugal was ordered to advance to Burgos and assist the Spanish. With the departure to England of Generals
Burrard and Dalrymple and Sir Arthur Wellesley to face the enquiry into the Convention of Cintra which
had enabled Junot and his army to escape from Portugal after the Battle of Vimeiro, command of the British army
fell on Sir John Moore. Moore commanded 23,000 troops in Lisbon and expected 10,000 reinforcements to
arrive at Corunna under Sir David Baird.
Moore sent his infantry
by the northern route through Coimbra, Celerico and Badajoz to Salamanca in Spain. Late anxieties about
the state of that road caused him to divert his artillery and cavalry by the southern Ciudad Rodrigo road.
The army marched into the port of Corunna on the night of 11th
January 1809, many of the troops in a state of exhaustion. The French were some distance behind but the
fleet was not in harbour. The transports did not reach Corunna from Vigo until 15th January 1809.
Moore formed his army south of Corunna between the village
of Elvina and the sea. Soult’s corps carried out a frontal attack on the British line with the emphasis on
the British right flank at Elvina. The French took Elvina but were driven out by the 42nd Highlanders
and the 50th Foot. They counter-attacked and recaptured the village. Short of ammunition, the two regiments
returned to the assault led by Moore and the French were driven out again at the point of the bayonet.
At the moment of victory Sir John Moore was struck by a round shot and fatally injured. Lying stricken,
Sir John enquired as to the state of the battle and was reassured that the French had been beaten back. The
French attack along the British line faded away, Paget’s reserve division driving back a late
incursion around the open right flank.
The next day the
army was embarked on the transports. One of the last duties of the 9th Foot was to bury Sir John Moore on the city
ramparts.
First Division: Lieutenant General Sir David Baird: 81st Foot,
26th Foot, 1st Foot, 50th Foot, 42nd Highlanders, 4th Foot, 1st and 3rd Battalion of the 1st Guards. Bean’s
brigade of artillery 6 pieces.