The Battlefield of Busaco

Looking down from Busaco ridge

The battle of Busaco took place on a high ridge, with Wellington having arranged his forces just behind the ridge, and the French troop having to flog up the hill to be slaughtered. That’s the basics – but seeing the ground itself was just stunning. The ridge is extremely high and steep, and why Massena thought it a good idea to assault it, instead of outflanking it, I have no idea. I suppose he was just so over confident – convinced the Portuguese would run away, which, re-organised by Beresford and inspired by patriotism, they most certainly did not. Also, he probably underestimated the numbers opposed to him. Wellington was outnumbered, but had constructed a road to rush reinforcements from one part of the ridge to another, and his men were so well concealed that a French officer, captured at the battle, wanted to fight a duel with General Craufurd. He considered it most unfair that Craufurd waited until the last moment before ordering his men forward! Also one has to remember that Napoleon kept issuing orders from Paris, and that Wellington couldn’t afford too many casualties because Parliament was not in whole hearted support of the Peninsular venture. So both leaders had political considerations as well as military. But having taken all that into consideration, the French assault on such a strong position still looks suicidal.

The battlefield is just outside the National Forest, which is a very old arboretum, begun by monks in the seventeenth century, and it’s lovely. There are redwoods, cedars, all sorts of South American trees, a pond with black swans, and the loveliest little valley, with tree ferns, arum lilies, and a sort of hydrangea, but much more open than the ones you get normally, and only in a greenish white and a beautiful pale blue.

The monks also built a convent - they all seem to be convents in Portugal, whether inhabited by monks or nuns. The cells are all cork doors - I suppose to deaden the sounds - and Wellington and his staff spent the night after the battle in them. There's a chapel dedicated to the Holy Family, which made us ensure whether to giggle or feel creeped out by. There were loads of wax breasts, pregnant stomachs and tiny babies. The breasts made us think of stag night accoutrements form the fancy dress shop, but the babies were really creepy. There were letters of thanks too, so one must assume the wax models work at least some of the time. 

All in all, this is a lovely place. Something that amuses us is the people coming with car loads of gallon sized water bottles to fill up at the spring. Whole families arrive and labour away, lugging these heavy bottles. I suppose they must really believe the spa water is good for you.