Johann Schwalbach was quite possibly the most successful rifleman of the 5th battalion, 60th regiment of foot. Born at Trier in the Rhineland in 1774 he enlisted in the 5/60th on the 2nd of May 1806, taking his eight guineas bounty, he was probably recruited in Germany but may also have volunteered after serving in the French army and being made a prisoner of war.
He was promoted to corporal in December 1807. When the 5/60th landed at Mondego Bay in August 1808, as part of Sir Arthur Wellesley’s force sent to liberate Portugal, they were initially brigaded with four companies of 2/95th to form the 6th, or Light Brigade. The brigade was commanded by Brigadier General Henry Fane, who took Schwalbach as his orderly.
Captain Landmann of the Royal Engineers, who was also attached to the brigade, recalled that after the army marched through the town of Alcobaça, the abbot of the local monastery invited the staff and commanders to dinner but Fane could not accept due as his brigade was posted beyond the town to protect the rest of the force. The abbott offered to send the dinner to them instead and it was Schwalbach who was delegated to negotiate with the messenger. Landmann writes of Schwalbach:
“In order to augment the importance of his office, he pretended to be conversant with the Portuguese language, but of which he had a very imperfect knowledge. The party, including the General and his staff, would amount to six; he, therefore, directed his orderly to state to the Abbot’s messenger that he should require dinner for that number. Schwalbach was not a man that would miss a good opportunity, so mustering up his best Portuguese, he contrived to explain that dinner for six would be sufficient, but added with extraordinary gravity, and in a tone of voice truly German, “Mit vine fur twelf;” which, after many gestures, and more swearing by Schwalbach, the messenger appeared to comprehend; and he immediately departed at the utmost speed of his mule.”
A excellent feast was supplied, along with ‘with twenty-four bottles of the most excellent red and white wines, being a general assortment of Hock, Champagne, Port, Madeira, Lisbon, &c.’ Schwalbach was allowed his share of the left-overs. On another occasion Schwalbach, sent to get some wine from a village, returned with it in not on a jug or bottle, but in a shallow bowl a metre wide. Landmann again:
“We were greatly diverted, and laughed most heartily as Schwalbach deposited on the ground this immense dish, whilst he was perspiring most violently, and declaring that he had never in his life been so fatigued by carrying any weight. He said, that to keep the dish level on his head and the wine from splashing out, had strained his movements so much, that nothing could equal it. The wine was most excellent, in our estimation, and we drank to the health of the rifleman.”
The 5/60th were involved with the first skirmish of the campaign at Obidos, and then at the Battle of Roliça, and won praise from Wellesley. At the battle of Vimeiro Schwalbach assisted Fane and Landmann in chasing and capturing a French cannon, that was attempting to flee the field. Landmann later wrote:
“By some circumstance with which I never became acquainted, one of the enemy’s guns had been passed by the charging of our troops, and as by this time the conductors thought they might dash off and so escape from our hands, they started at a full gallop. I no sooner perceived this, than I set off in pursuit, and as my course lay close by General Fane and his Aide-de-camp, in passing I called to the General to follow and assist, which he forthwith obeyed, as if I had been his Commander; Captain Bringhurst, Brigade-Major McLean, and the General’s orderly, with the General, quickly came up, and we instantly attacked the drivers as we rode by their sides. I swore at them in the French language, declaring if they did not pull up immediately, I should cut down the wheel horse postilion, raising my sabre over my left shoulder with that intention; and I have no doubt I should have carried my threat into execution, for the drivers, instead of slackening their pace at this, applied the whips and spurs with increased vigour, but just as I was nearing the wheel horse’s postilion, and on his left-hand side, General Fane fired his pistol into the off-horse, which almost instantly brought him to the ground, and by that means the other horses were nearly all thrown down, and the gun itself narrowly escaped being overturned.”
After the campaign Schwalbach was promoted to Lance-Sergeant, an acting rank until a vacancy arose, but then left the 5/60th for a commission in the Portuguese service. It is not clear if it was his proficiency at procuring wine or his bravery on the field that secured him this honour.
Schwalbach was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the 3rd Caçadores, before moving to the 6th Caçadores in 1812 when he was promoted to Captain. He fought at the battles of Bussaco, Fuentes de Oñoro, Arroyomolinos, Almaraz, Vittoria and the Pyrenees, where he was severely wounded. Commissary Schaumann encountered Schwalbach in command of three companies of caçadores sometime in 1810 when he was part of force defending the town of Rio Mayor, writing:
“Brave old Schwalbach stationed himself with his foremost outposts, and coldly explained to the fellows how close they were to allow the French to come before they aimed and mowed them down.”
Schwalbach stayed in Portuguese service after the war. in 1819 was promoted to major in a militia regiment to train them, and then moved to a line regiment and commanded a battalion. He distinguished himself several times fighting for the liberal cause during the Portuguese civil wars in the 1820s and 1830s, winning promotion to lieutenant colonel, and then major general commanding a light infantry division. He was ennobled for his service first as Baron, and then Visconde de Setúbal. An engraving of him appeared in the London Illustrated News in January 1847 following further unrest in Portugal, in which he also played a prominent role by commanding some of the Royalist troops. He died in 1847 aged 73, and has a street named after him in Oporto.
My history of the 5/60th – Riflemen is available from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and other book retailers, or direct from the publisher Helion & Co. My next book, At the Point of the Bayonet covering the battles of Arroyomolinos and Almaraz should be out in the autumn.
Daring, Duty & Cunning Plans 