That Astonishing Infantry The Royal Welch Fusiliers & the Peninsular War

Y Troedfilwyr Rhyfeddol Y Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig a Rhyfel Iberia

The Royal Welch Fusiliers (23rd Regiment of Foot) were first raised in 1689. By the time of the Peninsular War they were an experienced regiment having seen action in most of Britain’s colonial adventures and continental wars. The Welsh connection was strong: a third of the recruits serving at Waterloo were Welsh — the majority being farming lads, aged 20 and under, from the rural counties of Wales.

The 2nd Battalion sailed from Falmouth in autumn 1808 to join Sir John Moore’s army in northern Spain. The plan was to drive the French back to the Pyrenees; the reality was the reverse. The battalion found themselves in the rearguard of a hasty retreat with the French in hot pursuit. The fusiliers were the last to leave Spanish soil as the British escaped to fight another day. Captain Lloyd Fletcher and a corporal locked the lower gate of the walls of Corunna, using a bayonet to turn the famous keys in the rather stiff lock, giving the battalion enough time to embark. Fletcher put the keys in his pocket and they are one of the treasures of the regiment’s museum.

The 1st Battalion were among those forces arriving in Portugal in December 1810. They endured a miserable 110 mile march inland, where they made their name at the bloody Battle of Albuera (1811). Alongside the Royal Fusiliers, they played a pivotal role in the battle’s fortunes. The fusiliers marched up hill towards the French until almost musket to musket, whereupon they fanned out into two lines to maximise their firepower. Only stubborn determination took them to the top of that ridge:

“Nothing could stop that astonishing infantry. No sudden burst of undisciplined valour, no nervous enthusiasm weakened the stability of their order, their flashing eyes bent on the dark columns in their front, their measured tread shook the ground, their dreadful volleys swept away the head of every formation.”

Sir William Napier, former soldier and author of History of the War in the Peninsula and the South of France, published:1828-40

The French gave way in confusion and the fusiliers’ reputation was made. The 1st Battalion fought their way through the rest of Spain as the regimental colour, with its many battle honours, shows in the Guildhall in Wrexham.

The 1st Battalion returned to Britain, but they were back in action soon after Napoleon’s return to power in March 1815. Wellington reviewed the battalion prior to the Battle of Waterloo:

“I saw the 23rd the other day and I never saw a regiment in such order. They are not strong in numbers, but it was the most complete and handsome military body I ever looked at.”

The battalion proved steady at Waterloo in their famous square formations and withstood attack by the French cavalry. Their commander, the eight-times wounded Colonel Henry Walton Ellis finally came to the end of his nine lives alongside his men, aged only 32.

The Royal Welch Fusiliers repaid Wellington’s compliment providing one officer, one sergeant and six privates at his funeral procession. The association is still strong: a sergeant of the Royal Welch is immortalised as part of the statue of the Duke of Wellington on Hyde Park Corner in London. A symbol, if ever required, of the regiment’s role in the Duke’s long career.

The Royal Welch Fusiliers (23rd Regt. of Foot), 1807.

© Crumplin Collection

Y Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig (23ain Catrawd y Troedfilwyr), 1807.

© Casgliad Crumplin

Cynullwyd y Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig (23ain Catrawd y Troedfilwyr) am y tro cyntaf yn 1689. Erbyn Rhyfel Iberia roedd yn gatrawd brofiadol wedi bod yn ymladd ym mwyafrif anturiaethau trefedigol a rhyfeloedd cyfandirol Prydain. Roedd y cysylltiad Cymreig yn gryf: Cymry oedd traean y recriwtiaid a fu’n gwasanaethu yn Waterloo, y mwyafrif yn llanciau amaethyddol, 20 oed ac iau, o siroedd gwledig Cymru.

Hwyliodd yr 2il Fataliwn o Falmouth yn hydref 1808 i ymuno â byddin Syr John Moore yng ngogledd Sbaen. Y cynllun oedd gyrru’r Ffrancod yn ôl i’r Pyreneau; y gwrthwyneb oedd y gwirionedd. Cafodd y bataliwn ei hun yn ôl-fyddin y cilio gwyllt gyda’r Ffrancod ar eu sodlau. Y ffiwsilwyr oedd yr olaf i adael daear Sbaen wrth i’r Prydeinwyr ddianc i ymladd eto. Clowyd adwy isaf muriau Corunna gan y Capten Lloyd Fletcher ac is-ringyll, gan ddefnyddio bidog i droi’r allweddi enwog yn y clo oedd braidd yn anystwyth, a rhoi digon o amser i’r bataliwn fyrddio llongau. Rhoddodd Fletcher yr allweddi yn ei boced ac maent yn un o drysorau amgueddfa’r gatrawd.

Roedd y Bataliwn 1af ymysg y milwyr hynny a gyrhaeddodd Portiwgal ym mis Rhagfyr 1810. Bu raid iddynt ddioddef ymdaith ddigalon o 110 milltir tua’r tir, lle gwnaethant eu henw ym mrwydr waedlyd Albuera (1811). Ochr yn ochr â’r Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol, roedd ganddynt ran ganolog yn hynt y frwydr. Ymdeithiodd y ffiwsilwyr i fyny bryn i gyfeiriad y Ffrancod nes oeddent bron fysged wrth fysged, gan ymrannu’n ddwy linell i gael y grym tanio eithaf. Dim ond penderfyniad ystyfnig aeth â nhw i ben y grib honno:

“Nothing could stop that astonishing infantry. No sudden burst of undisciplined valour, no nervous enthusiasm weakened the stability of their order, their flashing eyes bent on the dark columns in their front, their measured tread shook the ground, their dreadful volleys swept away the head of every formation.”

Syr William Napier, cyn-filwr ac awdurHistory of the War in the Peninsula and the South of France, cyhoeddwyd: 1828-40

Ildiodd y Ffrancod mewn anhrefn gan sicrhau bri’r ffiwsilwyr. Brwydrodd y Bataliwn 1af ymlaen trwy weddill Sbaen fel y dengys y faner gatrodol, gydag anrhydeddau llawer brwydr arni, yn Neuadd y Dref yn Wrecsam.

Dychwelodd y Bataliwn 1af i Brydain, ond roedd yn ôl yn ymladd yn fuan ar ôl dychweliad Napoleon i rym ym mis Mawrth 1815. Arolygodd Wellington y bataliwn cyn Brwydr Waterloo:

“I saw the 23rd the other day and I never saw a regiment in such order. They are not strong in numbers, but it was the most complete and handsome military body I ever looked at.”

Roedd y bataliwn yn gadarn yn Waterloo yn ei drefniannau sgwâr enwog gan wrthsefyll ymosodiad marchoglu’r Ffrancod. Daeth ei bennaeth, y Cyrnol Henry Walton Ellis a anafwyd wyth gwaith eisoes, i ben ei naw bywyd o’r diwedd ochr yn ochr â’i wŷr, yn ddim ond 32 oed.

Ad-dalwyd canmoliaeth Wellington gan y Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig gydag un swyddog, un rhingyll a chwech o filwyr cyffredin yng ngorymdaith ei angladd. Mae’r gymdeithas yn dal yn gryf: anfarwolwyd un o ringylliaid y Ffiwsilwyr fel rhan o gerflun Dug Wellington ar Gornel Hyde Park yn Llundain. Dyma arwydd, os bu angen un erioed, o ran y gatrawd yng ngyrfa faith y Dug.

The Keys of Corunna.

© Crumplin Collection

Allweddi Corunna.

© Casgliad Crumplin

The Royal Welch Fusiliers (23rd Regt. of Foot), 1815.

© Crumplin Collection

Y Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig (23ain Catrawd y Troedfilwyr), 1815.

© Casgliad Crumplin