NARRATIVE

OF THE

PENINSULAR WAR,

FROM 1808 TO 1813.

BY LIEUT.·GENERAL CHARLES WILLIAM VANE,

MARQUES S OF LONDONDERRY, G.e.B. G.e.H.
COLONEL OF THE TENTH ROYAL HUSSARS.

THIRD EDITION,

,¡; •.

HENRY COLBURN, NEW BURLINGTON STREE'r.

1829.

PRINTED BY A. J. VALPV, llEll LION COtJRT, FLEET 3TREEY".

TO

MIS MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY

GEORGE IV.
SIRE,

Al\-IONGST the many distinguished honours
your Majesty has been graciously pleased to confer
on one of your most devoted subjects, none was
more deeply appreciated than your appointment of
him to the colonelcy of that regiment which your
Majesty so long commanded in persono It is from
a constant and everlasting sense of this military
distínction, that he has ventured most humbly to
lay at your Majesty's feet a short narrative of
those campaigns in the Península in which he
had the honour and good fortune to be engaged.

With the profoundest respect and devotion, the
writer begs permission to subscribe himself,

y our Majesty's
Most dutiful Subject and Servant,

VANE LONDONDERRY, Lieut.-Genl.
COL. lOTII ROyL. HUSSARS.

ADVERTISEMENT.

TliESE Reminiscences of some years of an active
professional life were never íntended to meet the
public eye. They were written alwáys in great

. has te, sometimes at long intervals, ahd sometimes
when fatigue entirely oppressed the· body, and
when the frame courted sleep rather than the
most trifling occupation. But the great motive
which prorripted the first committal to paper of
the imperfect details which these sheets embrace,
was the affectionate and indulgent spirit with
which they were received by him to whom they
were addressed. They would probably have
remairted buried with the object of that unbounded
aUachment and devotion which gave them birth,
had not the circumstances attending the late events

Vl ADVER'fISEMEN'f.

m Portugal recalled the former scenes passed
m that country, where British soldiers had en-
joyed so many triumphs, and where the deepest
¡nterest had been blended with their career, by
their Iearning, practically, under the greatest
Master of this or any former age, tha! profession
in which their destinies were involved.

When a new force was equipped, and, launched
under new auspices, was about to sail for that
quarter, it occurred to me that these hasty
sketches of a former period, however light and
imperfect, might, not be wholly uninteresting to
those l1rave brother soldiers, who were embarking
again for that land where so many laurels had
been already gathered.

1 therefore determined to a:range, with a friend,
my letters a~d memoranda in the form of a narra-
tive. Their deficiency, in many respects, is
frankly acknowledged; and it is hoped that, being
composed under the circumstances of const~nt
fatigue and activity, the Author may meet with
indulgence. On another _point also he has to
claim consideration from his' brother officers.
They know, as well as himself, how impossible it

ADVERTISEMENT. VIl

IS for any individual to render justice to the
meritorious deeds of every division and corps in a
long campaign; to describe all parts of a field of
batt1e; to enter into the various views tbat are
taken; or lastly, to detail the heroism 01' the
several officers in tbe performance of their duties
and exploits. Happily, the task of a eulogist or a
critic belongs to higher powers. The following
sheets have been compiled for other purposes;
1f they stimulate young officers to record the
events ofthe moment as it fiies, and the interesting
scenes they may engage in, for the Ínformation of
parents and friends at a distance, their publication
will accomplish one useful purpose ;and if they
enlivenone leisure hour, in camp or quarters.
of the brother soldiers of tbe author, bis object js
more than gained.

V, L.

MAPS AND PLANS.

Map of Spain and Portugal, showing the seat of war,

lo Jace page l. Vol. l.

The following six plans to be placed at the end of the Ap-

pendix of Correspondence, Vol. 11., preceding tbe 'tables:-

l. Plan of tbe action near Corunna, Jan. 16th, 1809,

Ueutenant-generalSir John Moore, commander-in-chief.

n. Passage of the river Douro, on the 12th May, 1809, by
the British arm~ under tbe command of Lieutenant-general
Sir Artbur Wellesley, K. B. in face of tbe French army, com-

manded by Matsbal Soult.

lB. Plan of the battle of Talavera.

IV. Sketch of part oí the ground about Fuentes and Villa

Formosa, occupied by the amed army on the 5tb and 6th May,

1811.

V. Plan of Badajoz and its environs, invested March 17th,
1812, and carried by storm on the night of April6th, by the

allied army, commanded by General the Earl of Wellington.

VI. Plan of Ciudad Rodrigo, describing its siege by tbe

allied army, 1812, General tbe Earl of Wellington, commander-

in-cbief.

CONTENTS

OF

THE FIRST VOLUME.

CHAPTER l.

The English army previous to 1808-DisinclinatiOIl of the
ministry to commit it.fairly against the armies of }'rance-
Causes which Ied to a change of policy-State of Europe in
consequence of the peace of Tilsit-Abject submission of Spain
to the will of Buonaparte, and ruinous consequences of the
war with England-The war of 1801 between Spain and
Portugal-Terms of peace-Miserable state of the Peninsular
nations-Mad,attempt of Godoy to excite them against France
-Secret treaty of Fontainbleau-Assembly of the corps of
observation of the Gironde-Protest of the French and Spanish
ministers ~t the court of Lisbon-They quit Lisbon Page 1

CHAPtER n.

March of Junot's army arross thc frontier-It arrives at
Salamanca, passes Alcantara, and enters Portugal-Hs suffer-

x CONTENTS.

ings by the way-Alarm of the court of Lisbon-Proposal to
emigrate to Brazil warmly supported by Lord Strangford and
Sir Sydney Smith-The court gives its consent, appoints a
regency, and embarks-Junot ~eaches Lisbon-His measures
for the preservation of public tranquillity-His behaviour, at
first conciliating, but afterwards tyrannical-The tri-coloured
flag hoisted-The regency abolished-Junot assumes supreme
power--The Portuguese army disbanded, and a heavy fine im-
posed upon the people-General discontent of aH classes-
N umerous broils and arbitrary punishments - The Spanish
troops exhibit symptoms of disaffection- Exertions of Junot
to prevent a rebellion, and to secure himself against the
English 29

CHAPTER IIl.

Entrance of fresh armies into Spain-Seizure of the frontier
fortresses, and advance of Murat upon Madrid- Consternation
of Charles and Godoy - Preparations for escape to Sonth
America defeated by the mob-Godoy dragged to prison--
Charles abdicates, and Ferdinand is proclaimed king-Murat
arrives in tbe capital-Departure of the royal family for Ba-
youne.-Tumult of the 2nd of May-Resig'nation of the rights
of the house of Bourbon-Secret instructions of Ferdinand to
the regency-Measures adopted by Murat to preserve public
tranquillity M

CHAPTER IV.

Gf'nt!ral insurrection ofthe Spanish provinces, and formation
of juntas-The junta of Seville peculiarly vigorous and orderly .
- It assumes the title of Supreme Junta of Spain and the
Indies-Reduction of the French fleet in the harbour of Cadiz
-Expeditions against Seville' and Valencia onder Dupont and

CONTENTS. xi

M{lncey- Actíons at Alcolia and Baylen, and surrender of
Dupont's corps-Moncey repulsed from before Valencia-
Proceedings at Bayonne, and proclamatioll of King Joseph-
He enters Spain-Battle of Medino del Río Seco; and arrival
of Joseph in Madrid-His flight in consequence of Dupont's
capture-An expedition fitted out at Cork sails for the Penin-
sula-Sir Arthur Wellesley arrives -at Corunna, and directs his
course towards Portugal-Proceedings in that country-Mu-
tiny of the Spanish garrison of Oporto-Seizure of General
Quesnel, 'and the standard of independence raised - Junot's
measures to suppress the revolt 80

CHAPTER V.

Arrival of Sir Arthur WelIesley at Oporto-Hisconference
with the junta-The transports assemble off Mondego, and
the troops are landed- Strange conduct of General Freire and
the Portuguese army-Junot t~llleasures to oppose the pro-
gress of the English, and calls in his detachmeIJts-Delaborde
retires before Sir Arthur Wellesley-Battle ofLorip-Arrival
of General Anstruther on the coast-March of the British army
to Vimiero-Sir Harry BlIrrard arrives in the offing-Is visited
by General Wellesley; but refuses to sanction an advance-
The British attacked by Junot's army-Battle of Vimiero 122

CHAPTER VI.

Inactivity of the British army under Sir Harry Burrard-
Arrival of General Kellerman at Vimiero, with proposals--Sir
Hew Dalrymple takes the command, and enters ¡nto a treaty
with Kellerman-Difficlllties as to the disposal of the Russian
fieet, and preparations for a renewal of hostilities--Arrival of
Sir John Moore's corps--Junot consents that the two Ad-
mirals shall arrange the point at isslIe between themselves-The

XII CON1'EN1'S.

convention of Cintra condemned by lrotb Portuguese and
Spaniards-Almeida and Elvas given up-The Briti!\h troops
enter Lisbon~Joy of the inbabitants-Clltaffa's corps restored
to liberty, and re-arlned-The French army sllils fot France,
and the Russian fleet is cOllveyed to England 146

CHAPTER VII.

Sir Hew Dalrymple is recalled, and Sir Arthnr Wellesley
returns to England on leave-Sir Harry Burrard resigns the
command to Sir John Moore-Preparations for an advance
into Spain-March tbrough Alentejo-Villa Vicosa-March
to Elvas-Elvas, Badajoz-Difference of character between
the Spaniards and Portuguese-Colonel Lopez recei ves de-
spatches from Castanos - Merida - Its antiquities-State of
agriculture in its vicinity 176

CHAPTER VIII.

Advañce wwards Madrid~Rumours of Blake's defeat-
Anival at Nil.val·cárhero~Madrid: the state of public feeling
there-W ant of energy in the Spanish government, exhausted
state of the treasury. aRd miserable plight of the armies-
MoverneIi.t of General Hope's corps upon Salamanca-Fears
lest it should be cut off-Causes of them-Overthrow of the
Spanish armies, commanded by Blake, Belvedere, and Castanos
-A French corps at Valladolid-Skirmish at Amvola-Ru-
mour of General Baird's retreat---Retlections on the conduct
oí the war 194

CHAPTER IX.'

Visit to heád-quartel'S, and interview with Sir John Moore-
A retreat determined upon - General dissatisfaction of the

CONTENTS. XIII

army-The idea of retreatiog abandoned, and orders issued to
advance-Movement upon Tordesillas - Skirrnish at Rueda.
-Sir John Moore resolves to attack 80ult on the Carrion
- The arrny advances for that purpose-Brilliant affair of ca-
valry. at Sahagun-Preparations for a battle suddenly coun-
terrnanded 219

CHAPTER X.

Dissatisfaction of the arrny-Sir John lVloore prepares to re-
treat-The infantry and artillery retire in two columns, covered
by the cavalry-Movements of t11e FreÍlch armies~Affair of
cavalry at Majorga--Sufferings of the troops on their march
-Alarrn at Benevellte, alld brilliant cavalry action-Destruc-
tion of 8tores at Astorga-'V retched plight of Romana 's troops
-Disorganisation of the English army-March from Astorga
to Villa Franca-Serious skirmisb at Villa Franca-Retreat
to Liego, where battle is offered, but declined by the French-
The armies in position three days-Retreat upon Corunna-
The fleet arrives, and the embl,lrkation is begun-Battle of
Corunna, and death ol' Sir .John Moore - The army is
withdra.wn 247

CHAPTER XI.

Consequences of Sir John Moore's campaign-Departure of
Napoleon for Germany-Military condition of Spain and Por-
tugal previous to 1Ihe arrival of ¡¡jir Arthur ""' ellesley-Invasion
0,( Portugal by Soult-He passes the Minho at Orense, defeats
the Portuguese and Spaniards at Monterrey, and enters Chaves
-Oporto carried by assault-Lupisse fails to reduce Ciudad
Rodrigo, and goes to join Victor-Battle of Medelin, and
overthrow of Cuesta's army-Sir John Cradock and Marshal

. Beresford make preparatioDs to oppose Soult - Sir ~O\ rthur

xiv CONTENTS.

Wellesley embarks at 'Portsmouth; reaches Lisbon; is re~
ceived with enthusiasm-He makes arrangements to take the
field 292

CHAPTER XII.

Dispositions of the allied troops-They assemble at Coimbra,

and are reviewed-State of the French army beco mes some-

what changed by the defeat of General Lefevre-Rumours of

a mutiny among the enemy-Sir Arthur Wellesley arranges

his plaus, and the brigades are commanded to move 310

CHAPTER XIII.

The armyadvanees towards tbe _ 1)ouro-A 'D(ifi~ ~\ ~~
enemy attacked and driven from Albergaria N ova-Affair of

Grijon-Passage of the Douro, and defeat of Soult 327

CHAPTER XIV.

Sir Arthur WeUesley foUows the French army-Skirmish

at Salamonde-Soult makes for Orense, and the. pursuit is

abandoned-The allies eountermareh upon Coim,bra, where a

reinforeement of five thousand men reaehes them-Movement

towards the south-Communieations opened with Cuesta.."..His

plans for the eampaign opposed by Sir Arthur Wellesley-

The army beeomes sickly, and is distressed for money and

stores 346

CHAPTER XV.

The British army moves nearer to Victor, and threatens hi:l

flanks-The latter withdraws across the Tagus-Sir Arthur

CONTEN'IS. xv

Wellesley fixes his head-quarters at Plasencia - He visits
Cuesta at Casa del Puerto, and is shown the Spanish army by
torch-light-He returns to his OWIl troops, which are put in
motion, and Victor's posts driven from Talavera across the·
Alberche-Preparations for attacking ~im there, but he effects
his escape-Dissatisfaction of Sir Arthur ,,y ellesley with the
conduct of the Spaniards-lIe is compelled, by the ,1lI!gligence
of Cuesta, to remain inactive 371

CHAPTER XVI.

Cuesta fol\ows the Frcnch, who turn upon and drive him back
in confusion--Battle of Talavera - Sutferings of tile British
army after the action, and its consequent retreat towards Por-
tugal 400

CHAPTER XVII.

Defeat of Cuesta's army at the bridge of Arzobispo-Victor
enters Talavera-Sir Robert WilsoJ;l's corps w.orsted at the
Puerto de Banios-Sir Arthur 1Vellesley takes up the line of
the Tagus-=-'Cuesta is superseded, and General Eguia succeeds
to the command of the Spanish army-Distresses of the British
army, and extraordinary conduct of Eguia and the Spanish
government-Sir Arthur Wellesley retires upon the Guadiana
":""General A rrezaga defeated at Ocana, and the Duke del
Parque at Pamarue-Successes of the French in Andalusia-
Fall of Gerona and Astorga-Massena assumes the command
in the Peninsula-The British army moves towards Almeida,
leaving General Hill's corps at Abrantes-Comparative strength
of the opposing armies, and mutual preparatiolls for the cam-
paign

'.
426

xvi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Low state of the finánces of the British army, and appfeben-

sions entertained by many respecting the issue of the war-

Massena opens the campaign by investing Ciudad Rodrigo-

Skirmishes at the outposts, and retreat of the light division on

Almeida-Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, which surrenders-Affair

of cavalry in front of the British outposts-Rumours of the

enemy's intended operations, and dispositions to meet him 458

CHAPTER XIX.

Preparations proceed, and plans are formed-The light di-

vision attackjld at Almeida, and falls back towards Alverca-
General movement of the British army towards the rear~In~
decision of Massena-Difficulties against which Lord 'Velling-

ton is called upon to struggle-Almeida besieged and taken-

The garrison enter the French service-The enemy advance,

and the Britisb army retires towards Busaco 489

NARRATIVE

OF THE

PENINSULAR WAR.

CHAPTER 1.

The English army previous to 1808-DisinclinatiOIl of the
ministry to. commit it fairly against the armies of }'rance-
Causes which led to a change of policy-State of Europe in
consequence of the peace of Tilsit-Abject submission of
Spain to the will of Buonaparte, and ruinous consequences
of the war with England-The war of 1801 between Spain
and Portugal-Terms of peace-Miserable state of the Pe-
ninsular nations-Mad attempt of Godoy to excite them
against France-Secret treaty of Fontainbleau-Assembly
of the corps of observation of. the Gironde-Protest of the
French and Spanish ministers at the court ofLisbon-They
quit Lisbon.

THE memorable struggle in which, during fifteen .
or sixteen years, England had been engaged,
may be said, up to the year 1807, orráther 1808,
to have be en a mere war of defence. Whilst her

VOL. I. A

2 ,NARRATIVE OF THE

fleets swept the seas in each quarter of the globe,
crushing, wherever they came in contact with it,
the naval strength ofthe enemy, her armies either
rested idly upon har own. shotes, or were scattered
in detachments among her colonies, or at best
found themselves from time to time called upon
to bear a part in some petty expedition, the object
of which was usually as unprofitable, as the means
employed for its attainment were insignificant. If
we except the short campaign of Egypt, and the
still shorter though hardly less brilliant affair of
Maida, the entire period, from 1793 down to the
commencement of the Peninsular war, presents us
with no single record of deeds performed, worthy
of the ancient rrÍilitary renown of Great Britain;
for neither the capture of a few islands in the W.€st
Indies, nor the seizure aild súbseqtient abandon-
ttiertt of Tóulon, llor ihe coíitests in Flanders and
at the Texel, nor even the reduction of Copen-
hagen, can with any justice or propriety be referred
to, as adding much to the lasting reputation of this
country.

But though the case \vas so, abd government
appeared aH ihis while unaccountablyanxious to
avoid bringing its l.and forces fairly into contact
with those of France, it was by no means indif ..
ferent either as to tlie numencal strength or to the
internal discipEne and organisation of the atmy.
The threat of ah invasion, followeu up as it was by

PENINSULAR W A R. 3

the assembIy ofn~merou,s bodies oftroops aIong the
French ~oast, infuse<\ \fttq \lIe peopIe of EngIand
a military spirit, ol which, for many generations
hack, they had known nothing; and the minister
of the day was far tooprudent not to turn it to a
right account. Every encourageII1ent was given
to the enrolment of corps of vol~nteers; and these
corps ofvolunteel's. as well as the regiments of mi-
litia, all served as ~o many nurseries fQr the lineo
Men who had Qnc~bQr!W ~rm~, ~ve,n though they
carried them in sport, pegan to feel their objections
to the Jife of a soldier graduaIly abate; and many
an individual who put on a uniform with no other
design than that of protecting the peace of the
country, b~came, before long, a member of the
regular army. The vi<;tory of Trafalgar, likewise,
as it left us !lO epem.ief:¡ with whom ~ C9I!teU(~ at
sea, naturally enough tqme<\ tll~ views of the brave
and the enterprising to the land sel'vice. From
an these causes, recruits, both in officers and men,
presented themselves as rapidly as thlJ; most warlik~
administration could have desired ; insoJlluch, that
on t4e 1st of ,J"aPlJa.ry, ¡SQS, t~fe w~re en~oll~<!
under the British stand~.f(l, of regul~ infantry,
cavalry, and artillery, exclusive offoreign mercena-
ries, little shart of three hundred tllOusand J.ll~ll.

Of the discipline which perva.ded thjs Pf{)q.j-
gious mass, it is not necessary to sa, mnch;
even oul' enemies-those !tt least who were our

4 NAURATlVE OF THE

enemies, and who still entertain towards us a
degree of rancorous jealousy for which no good
cause can be, assigned-allow that the discipline of
the British army was, and is superior to that of
any other army in Europe. Under the wise and
paternal management of the late venerated Com-
mander~in-Chief, acode, stern enough in theory,.
but mild though firm in practice, had been esta-
blished. ~ ·Promotion too, which in former times
had proceeded without any regard whatever to
the fitness of individuals, was rendered as equita-
ole as it ever can be, under a system which adinits
of advancement by purchase. Boys were no
longer permitted to hold commissions, w hilst they
were yet acquiring the first elements of educa-
tion; nor was it any more in the power of the mi-
nister of the day, to reward the favourite who had
proved in any manner useful to himself, by bestow-
ing 'upon him the command of a regimento A re-
gular scale was drawn up, in accordance with
which no man was permitted to hold an ensign's
commission till he had attained the age of sixteen.
Three years' service was requisite to qualify him
for the 'rank of captain, seven years for that of
major. Nor were, other and equalIy important
matters left in the condition in which they once
stood. In former times, each colonel or command-
ing officer of a regiment was in the habit of ma-
nreuvring his corps in any way or upon any plan

PENINSULAR WAR. 5

which to himself inight appear most convenient.
The consequence was, that in the British army
there were almost as many systems of fieId move·
ment as there were regiments of cavalry and infan-
try; and, that hardly any two could, when called
upon to act together, act to any purpose. This
disadvantageous mode of proceeding was abolished.
Oneuniform and consistent system was drawn up
for the infantry; another for the cavalry; and aH
regiments were expected to. render themselves
perfect in these, before they attempted to learn
any thing besides. Such changes, together with
the establishment of hospitals for the wounded and
disabled soldiers, and for the education of children
whose parents had fallen in the defence of their
country, cou1d not fail of producing the most be-
neficialeffect upon the morale of the British army ;
which, from being an object of something Iike
abhorrence to ¡ts own countrymen, and of con-
tempt to the troops of other nations, rose to com-
mand, as well as to deserve, the esteem of the
former, and the respect and aclmiration of the
Iatter.

There were, however, one or two considerations,
which, notwithstanding these acknowledged im-
.provements, longcontinued to keep alive a disincli-
nation on the part of the ministry, to commit the
British army on the great freId of continental
warfare. In the frrst place it was doubtcd whe-

6 N ARRATIVE OF THE

ther, among out own generaIs, !líeré could be
found any, capable of opposing the experienced
and skilful warriors of France. We had never
been accustomed to carry on war upona large
scal~ except in India; and in India, it was be-
lieved that, for the successful conduct ofa .cam-
.paign, talents of the first order "\Vere hardly
'required. In the next place, itwas not'considered
either prudtmt or just topus'h a handful of British
troops into theheart of Europe; where, at a dis-
tance from the sea, and cut off from an communi-
eation with their own country, they might be com-
promised at, any moment, either through the im-
'becility or treachery of OUl' aUy. EngIand, it was
imagined, ought not to take part in a continental
war, unless she could do so on somepoint not very
remote fromher, own shores, and covered by an
extensive line of coast; because, in spite of the
magnitude of her army in the mass, she could
never, it was asserted, pretend to bring more
than thirty or fotty thousand men into the field.
These considerations, it ishardly necessary to add,
prevented a British army from appearing in lthe
neld at Austerlitz and Jena,or taking ashare in
any of the 'previous armaments which from time
-to time rendered' Germany ,the theatre of war.
'Butthelatter objection to the employment-of our
own troops, 'the mad ambition of:theFrallch ruler
at length removed; whilst it only requiredthe ex~

PENINSULAR WAR. ¡

perience of ·~single c~paign \0 demonstrate, that
in the for~er th~r~ had never ,been any solid
grounds oI c~~>son.

By the treaty of rilsit, N apoleon BUOllfl,parte
was left ma~:1;er of the cOl~tinent of Ellrope; tp,e
greater part being actually in \lis possession, :;lnd
the rest entirely lInder his controL Over t4e Ger-
manic body he exercised an ~ut,hprity mqre l."eal
and mOre absolute' tha.n JIad ev;~r been. e~eI:Ciliied
by ihe tnqstpo~eI~l of ~W ~~l'Qts. ',Switzer-
l~d sub~tted to call him h~r prQtector, obeyed
his edicts, andfil1ed up his ranks with meno
Holding France, Flanders, and Italy forhimself,
l1e had placed one brother upqn the throne ofNa-
pIes, another upon t}:lat of Holla)1d, whilst Jor a
third a kingdoOl waserected in theheart of
Germ:,¡;ny, withterritories ~aken indis,crimin,ately
froID frien,d and (oe. Joa~mMurat,the hus-
band of his sister, possessed a principality, with
the title of Grand Duke of Berg; Eugene Beall-
harnois, his wife's son, was, married to a princess
of the b,o,l,lse ,OfJ3,avaria, ~nd governed I,taly as his
vicer.oy ; ,;Whil~~ .. l+e :wasprepare,d, upon ~he 1;lext
vacancy, to place ~~uncle, 9f!-rWllal ~~sche, upon
t,he papal tbrone. N ot s~t~sfied with thus enrich-
ing and loading with honours the mewbers of .his
.own faroily, ~e ¡port,ioned out. ClIlloug hi~ marshals
and compa1).ions. in arUlS, ,kiJlgdQms and princi-
palities w~rn by the sword; and D.ukes Qf Istria,

8 NARRATIVE OF THE

and Dalmatia, and Ragusa, and Dantzic, were
numbered among the new nobility of France. His
own reputation moreover, political as well as mili-
tary, had risen to a height quite unprecedented;
for it is not going too far to affirm that the whole
civilised world, dazzled by the splendour of his
achievements, lay, with the solitary exception of
Great Britain, at his feet.

An empire acquired as had be en that of Napo-
leon, can nevereven for a moment be said to rest
upon asure foundation. ' One error in poIitics,
one failure in war, may suddenly excite a storm
which all the vigour of its chief will not be able to
surmount; and of this trúth the Emperor of the
French was doomed to furnish a memorable exam-
pIe. N ór will it readily cease to afford matter of
astonishment tó the reflecting mind, that thefirst
and most decisive blow to his power, should have
come froID a quarter where, aboye all others, he
believed himself, and had just ground to believe
himself, the most secure.

When the sovereigns of Europe deemed it
expedient to arm for the purpose of opposing the
progre ss Df the French Revolution, the courts both
of Madrid and Lisbon entered, with apparent cor-
diality, into the general league. Spain sent an
army across the Pyrenees, to which a few batta-
lions of Portuguese attached themselves; whilst
Portugal despatched nine sail of the line to follow

PENINSULAR WAIl. 9

the fortunes of the British Heet. The war in the
south of France was not conducted either with
skill or vigour. For a time indeed, that is to say,
as long as the Directory found· itself too busy to
pay much attention to the state of affairs in that
quarter, the allies obtained a few successes, but
they in no instance followed them up with the
slightest intrepidity; and they had hardly been
opposed by moderate forces, when the ti de of for-
tune turned against them. They not only lost
the little ground which they had gained, but
their be aten coJumns were pursued across the
frontier; Catalonia was overrun, and Madrid itself
threatened. An imbecile prince, and no less im;.
becile fa~ourite, alarmed by the progress which the
victorious republicans were making, hastened to
put an end to a disastrous war, by a disgraceful
peace. lt was concluded in 1795, by the treaty
of Basle, which, at the distance of ayear after,
was succeeded by a league offensive and defen,..
-sive, entered into at St. Ildefonso. .

From that moment Spain became, in point of
faet, nothing more than a mere appendage to
France. The family compaet, as it was nowab-
surdly termed, having been renewed with the
Directory, it was not to be expected that it would
cease to operate when the democratical form of
government gave place to the imperial; or that the
Emperor of the Freneh would be les s ready to avail

10 NARRATlVE QF THE

himsélf of it. !han had been the rulen; of the re-
publico .Al ~he i~tigation oC Buonaparte, Spain
declared war against England; am;l acontest be-
g!ln" which could hardly fail of bringing upon her
tM ~aviest disasters. During ita progtess, her
marine, which Charles III had taken .the utmost
care to fOlSt~r, was destroyed; her coU!merce re·
ceived a ~tQ.l blow; the iI?-tercourse with her Souta
AD;lerican <!pIonies was interrupted, and the way
"paved fOl' ibat ijepa,rati()fi whi~b. h1'U! since occur-
.red; her finan~.s bec.ame every day morea1;ld more
embarrassed; and public credit sank to the Iowest
ebb. HerarJUY, likewise, w~s drafted away to
1ight the b&,ttl#s of her 1wd.ly ally in the most
distant partsofEurope; and she was left in a
situation as helpless and pitiable as has eN'er
heen filled by a nation.

ltis hardly necesaary:to state that, at this
period, and forsome time previous, Spain was
governed by an individual on whose head fortune
appeared t~ ha~e taken delight in :showering the
rich{\~t of her favours. Manuel Godoy,aman
.4.oosc,"re bir$, who or.ig~nally~Ued no higher
.station th~n tbat qf~ pr·iv:ate in the royal body-
guards, having attracted the notice of the Queen,
,was by her influence raiaed to th~highest dignities
in the state ;andcaIlle at last to possess an au:-
thority more <;lecid~d-:j¡\lan thatofthe weak master
whom he professed to serve. Godoy was, at the

PENINSULAR WAR. 11

breaking out of the French Revolution4 commallder-
ill-chief of the armies, and lord high admiral
of the Heets of Spain; and at the close of 1792,
he was appointed to the important 0ffice which
Florida Blanca had filIed under Charles 111, that
of President of the Councils. He it was, who,
after conducting the war with so little abrlity,
accepted peace, upon terms which laid Spain at
the feet of her neighbour; and he received, as the
reward of his 'sernces on that OCcasiÓlll, the title
of Prince of thePeace. Godoy appears to have
been a strange compound of weakness with genius,
and of numerous vices, with a few virtues. That he
willingly and knowingly betrayed his country, there
is no reason for supposing; but like all upstarts,
he considered thegeneral good as a matter to
be postponed on every occasion.to .his private be-
nefit; and heun-questionably broughtabout the
downfall of the Spanish monarchy in the vain
attempt to uphold his own power. Godoy was
not disposed to favour the 'Prench, for heboth
feared and hated their ruler; but, like ,his sove-
,reign,he fearedthatextraordinary man more than
he hatedhim, and .therefore sttbmitted to receive
his yoke. When the peace of Amiens was broken,
N apoleon, in virtue of the treaty of Sto Ildefonso,
called upon Spain to join ;11im with herlleets and
armies; hut Godoy was desirous of ,evading the
request; and he even succeeded, for a short time,

12 NARRATIVE OF THE

in purchasing an insecure neutrality, by the pay-
ment of forty. thousand pounds per month into
the imperial treasury. At last, however, Spain
was hurried into the war, which brought so many
.and sueh severe calamities upon her; from the
effects of which she has not yet recovered, and
probably never will recover.

Whilst Spain was thus acting the part of a
province of Franee, Portugal, faithful to the terms
of her aneient allianee with England, eontinued to
maintain a hostile attitude towards the eommon
.enemy. N ot that she aeted thus either willingly
or eonfidentIy. DepFived by the treaty of St.
Ildefonso of a barrier against French invasion, upon
which she had been accustomed to count, Portu-
gal could .not but feel that, in striving, even with
the aid of England, to assert her independence,
she was attempting that which neither the con-
dition of her defences, nor the numerical strength
of her population, authorised her to attempt. But
she was well aware that no peace would be granted
to her on any other terms besides the shutting of
her ports against English vessels; and she felt
that a rupture with England must speedily reduce
her to the lowest extremities of distress. Under

. these circumstances, the eourt of Lisbon issued
orders for the enrolment of large bodies oftroops.
The arsenals were filled with warlike instru-
ments; the forts and towns on the frontier were

PENINSULAR WAlto 13

put in a state of repair; and the Qrdinances, or
levies en masse, received instructions to repair,
each company to its accustomed place of rendez.;.
vous, on the first alarm of an enemy.

It is not necessary to detail at length the parti-
culars of the war which ensued. For a time no
event occurred of greater importance than the
occasional capture of a Portuguese merchant-man
by one of the French privateers, which, in great
numbers, found shelter in· the ports of Spain.
An invasion was indeed threatened; Buonaparte,
when in Egypt, declared to his troops, that .. a
time would come, when the Portuguese nation
should pay with tears ofblood for the insult which
it had offered to the republic," by despatching a
squadron to act in conjunction with· the British
fleet in the Mediterranean. But the continental

. ,var which broke out in 1799, delayed the execution
ofthat threat; nor was it till1801, that any serious
movements were made for carrying it into effect.
Then, however, the fate of Germany being de~
cided, and peace dictated to the rest of Europe,
the FirstConsul began seriously to turn his atten-
tion towards the accomplishment ofhis prophecy;
under the persuasion that, in detaching Portugal
from England, he would be striking· a blow at
the power of the latter empire, in what he was
pleased to term the most accessible part of her
~dominions.

14 NARRATIVE OF THE

A convéntion was, accordingly entered into at
Madrid, between the French republic and his
Catholic Majesty,. which had for its object the
forcible deliverance of Portugal froro the alliance of
EngIand. It was foUoweds 00 the 27th of Fe-
bruary, by a declar,ation of war by Spain, for
the prosecution of which her troops were already
in motion; whilst a Freneh corps of fifteen thou-
sand men pa.ssed tbe Pyrenees, and took up its
quarters in tha vicinity of Ciudad Rodrigo, for
the purpose of supporting the Spanish army, to
which the task of invading Portugal was assigned.

To oppose this attack, tbe Duk.e de Lafoes,
prime minister of Portugal, oceupied both sides
of theTagus with a eorps of thirty thousand meno
They were miserably armed, wretchedly equipped,
and neithet· paid nor fed; and the only British
force at hand to support tbem, eonsisted of a bri- -
gade of foreign regiments, a detachment of the 20th
light dragoons, and a few can non, under General
Fraser. The campaign was, as might be ex-
pected, unfavourable to the Portuguese, tbough by
neither side was much aetivity or talent displayed ;
and before the middle of J une, peace was signed
between Portugal and Spain, at Badajoz. But
.with the terms of that peace, though they in-
cIuded the shutting of the Portuguese ports against
all intercourse with England, the First Consul
was not satisfied; nor was it till the 29th ()f the

PENINSULAR WAR. 15

following, Septembet that the court of Lisbon
succeeded in obtaininghis approbation. of the
treaty. To secure this, Portugal was content to
pay one million sterling to the French govern-
ment; besides consenting to other arrangemen.ts,
both commereial and territorial, all of them in the
highestdegree prejudieial to her own interests.

The peace of Amiens suspended for a while
the operation of that article in tha treaty which
closed tha pom of Lisbon ,and oporto against
English merchandise, and the old commercial
intercourse between the two nations was re-
newed; but the rupture, whieh so soon followed,
again placed Portugal in a diffieult situation.
At fil'st, Buonaparte insisted upon the necessity
of reeurring to the prohibitory system, and ap-
peared bent upon allowing no modification of ¡ts
operations; but a variety of considerations Ied him
at last to change his tone. The war in which
Spain by his dictation had engaged, unavoidably
produced an interruption in the arrival of those
treasures from South Ameriea whieh he fOUlld so
useful to himself in the prosecution of his schemes
of eonquest: it was necessary thatsome harbour
should be left open for their reeeption. On this
aceount, and on condition of securing,. during the
continuanee of the maritime war, a monthly tri-
bute of forty or fifty thousand pounds, Buonaparte
consented that Portu al should continue to main-

16 NARRATIVE OF THE

tain a íriendly intercourse with Great Britain; and
she became, in consequence, the only neutral state
in the south of Europe.

In this condition both Spain and Portugal re-
mained, from 1803 up to 1807; the one suffering
a1l the misery attendant upon a compuIsory alliance
with a power which exhausted her revenues, and
ruined her commerce; the other writhing under
too pain of aheavy contribution, and exposed every
day to fresh vexations, which she possessed not the
means oí resisting. N or were the internal affairs
of either kingdom in a more prosperous state than
their external connexions. In Spain, the nobility
were suilk to the lowest pitch of degradation; the
clergy, avaricious and domineering, ruled the peo-
pIe with a rod of iron; and the King, was not
ashamed to appear as a tool' in the hands oí the
very man, who, to an appearance, was living in a
state of adultery with his wife. Every depart-
ment of the state was mismanaged. The towns,
deserted by their inhabitants, presented a melan-
cboIy picture of what a nation must come to,
whose rulers are possessed' neither of energy of
mind nor honesty of character ; and the very fields
were in many place s left uncultivated, for want
of sufficient hands to till tbem. In like manner,
the Spanish army, which, under the Emperors
Charles V and Philip, had been the admiration
of Europe, was nowa thing of no name,--a very

· PENINSULAR WAR. 17

by-word of derision and contempt to the troops of
other nations. The few soldiers that remained in
the country were without ray, 01' clothing, or even
arms; tlle officers, taken from the lowest dasses,
were not ashamed to wait, as servants, in their
uniforms, behind the chairs of the grandees. AH
the arsenal s were empty. There were not provi-
sions or stores of any kind, in any of the fortresses,
s~fficient for a month' s consumption of the wretched:
garrisons which held them; and the very foun-
dries had ceased to work, except at remote inter-
vals.

Yet wasthe spirit of Spain far from beingwholly
broken. Driven from the higher and prouder
circles, it took refuge among the peasantry; nor
would it be easy to point out, in any quarter ofthe
world, a nobler or finer race of men than those
who cultivated the vine on the banks of the Ebro, .
or led their long lines of mules from one q uarter oí
the kingdom to another. These men had partaken
in no degree of the degeneracy of their superiors.
The memory of their country's former greatness
was kept alive in them by those traditionary bal ..
lads whichSpaniards, more tha~ the inhabitants
of any othe1' European state, delight in repeating;
and they never failed to contrast it with the humi-
liating attitude which the imbecility of their pre-
sent g'overnment condemned them to aSSllme. Had
there been in Charles sufficient firmness to desire ~

VOL. I. BiÍ;." ji!' '
:J, .

]8 NARRATIVE OF THE

an emancipation from foreign thraldom, he might
have foused, in one day, the whole male popula-
tion of Spain abouthim. But there was no- such
fj.rmness in that weak monareh. The dupe of
Godoy on the one hand, and of his own fears on
the other, he eontinued to hug the chain which
bound him, as long as i1 was possible so to do;
nor, when that ehain was burst at last, did the
sDlallest credit attach either to him or to his
worthless minis"ter.

In Portugal, the sarue, or nearly the same,order
of things prevailed. The Regent, a weak and-su-
perstitious prinee, was not, indeed, like his father-
in-Iaw, under the influenee of a favourite minister,
but he was as eompletely theslave of his eon-
fessor, as, Charles was the slave of Godoy. As
long as it was permitted him to attend religious
processions; as long as the ehurch seemed to
flourish in its primitive grandeur; he cared not
how other departments of his kingdom were guid-
ed, or in what plight his people dragged on exis-
tenee. N or were the nobles who surro~nded him
more patriotie or more respectable than those who
surrounded the tbrone oí Spain. In Portugal, as
in tbe neigbbouring country, all tbat bad ever be en
admirable in the mitional character could be found
only among the peasantry; who, in spite of the
corrupting influence oftheir superiors, eontinued to
the last a high.;.spirited, brave, and obedient race.

PENINSULAR \VAR. 19

It has been said that Godoy cannot with truth
be aecused of submitting wilfully and knowingly
to the yoke which France had placed upon the
neck of his country. Like the ;roass of the people,
he writhed painfully under ii; and as it afterwards
appeared, nothing but an overwhe1ming dread of
the consequences had deterred him from making a
vigorous attempt to cast it off. At last, however,
the general feeling on that subject became so
strong, that he determined to do something for the
purpOse of indulging it. The plan which he de-
vised, and the method which he pursued in matur-
ing it, are already well knownto the public; but
since to these the whole series of events which
followed may be traced back, as to their immediate
canses, it may not be amiss to offer here a brief
recapitulation of the .leading circumstances which
attended them.

The overthrow of tbe Bourbon dynasty in N a-
pIes. had sensibly alarmed the court of Madrid;
and the prospect of that rupture with Prussia
which ended in the peace of Tilsit, struck Godoy
as fumishing a favourable opportunity of stil'ring up
all Eurape against aman· whose ambition seemed
to be without bounds. A secret alTangement was
accotdingly entered into between him and the
ambassador Strogonoff, into which the Portuguese
Envoy was admitted, that the two kingdoms of
Spain and Portugal should iustantly arm, for the

20 NARRA'l'IVE OF THE

purpose of attacking France at a moment when
her troops should be called away to oppose the
;Emperor of Russia in the n01'th. These prepara-
tions were to begin in Portugal; with the ostensi-
ble view of overawing which, Spain was next to
increase her armies; whilst expeditions being
fitted out in the English ports, a combined force
was to invade the south of Franee, which, it was
pelieved, would not be in a fit state to offer any
efficient opposition. ~uch were the plans of Go-
doy, in proposing which so much secreey wa~
preserved, that no other agent of the government
either at home or abroad was made aequainted
with what was pending; but they were destined
neyer to be carried into effect. Before a single
step had been taken either in Spain or Portugal;
before any direct c()mmunication had been opened
with England, there suddenly appearad a procla-
mation of the Prince of the Peace, ealling upon all
good Spaniards to arm, and to assist in delivering
their eountry froro the perils whieh roenaeed it.
This proc1amation was given to the world at a time
when Buonaparte was absent on the Prussian
campaign ;and its tenor was sueh as no person
could possibly misunderstand. 1t produced a very
powerful effect; but the effect was directly the
reverse in kind from that which it was intended to
produce.

Baron Strogonoff and the Portuguese Ambassa-

PENINSULAR WAR. 21

dor, equally startled at the great imprudence of
the step which had been taken, lost no time in
disavowing all participation in a· project which
they now equally pretended to condemn~ So
fearful, indeed, was the court of Lisbon of being
supposed to be a partner in the conspiracy, that it
compelled Ear! Sto Vincent to withdraw, with his
fleet, from the Tagus. Godoy instaritly . saw the
folly of the act into which his natural precipitanéy
had hurried him. He hastened. to bifer snch ex'"
planations to tbe French Ambassador as he judged
most likely to aIlay the anger of N apoleon~ and he
instructed his private agent, Don Eugenio Izquier-
do, to make the most abject submissions in his
name to N apoleon in persono Paragraphs like-
wise appeared in the Madrid newspapers, sorne of
tbem ascribing late events to an apprehensiOll of
an invasionby .the Emperor~of Moroe~o; :otbers
oifering rewards for thedetection of the miscreant
who had forged a circular letter to the intendants
of provinces in the name of the Prince of the
Peace; whilst the motives of the proclamation, of
which tbe authenticity could notbe denied, .were
industriously pronounced to be a sense of duty
towards Franee, and an over-anxiety to oppose the
projects of England. .

Buonaparte received the documents aboye al-
luded to subsequent to the battle of Jena;· and he
read in the palace of the King of Prussia a corres-

22 NARRATIVE OF THEo

pondence which placed the íntended revoltofSpain
beyond a doubt. He vowed at the moment to
take revenge, but it suited his policy to utter the
vow in secret; and he affected to have cordially
forgiven the fauIt Ínto which his aliy, the King of
Spain, had been drawn. Itis now, however, per-
fectIy ascertained that this disclosure of the feel;;.
ings of the Peninsular nations towards him, opened
his eyes fully to the danger to which his power
must always be exposed whilst these nations con-
tinued to be governed by their present royal fami-
lies. He determined, on the instant, that ihe
houses both of Bourbon and Braganza should
cease to reign, and that their places should be
supplied by those upon whose subserviency to his
own views and wishes he IDight have better reason
to dependo

Had Buonaparte, al!! 800n as the designs ofSpain
became known to him, directed his viCtorious ]e~
gíons upon Madrid, the dethronement of Charles
would have been viewed by the rest of Europe as
an arrangement dictated by self-defence; whilst it
is not improbable that the war never would have
assumed the character whicl1 his future proceed-
ings gave to it. But it was not in the nature of
the Freneh Emperor to aet, in any case, either
with openness {)f candour. Though a passionate
lover of war, he never effected that by force of
arms, which he bélieved it practicable to effect by

PENINSULAR W AR. 23

diplomacy; and the principIe which guided him
in other cases failed not to operate heteo There
were, however, other reasons for the system which
he pursued, and these deserve to. be recorded.

There are few states in which the favourite of
the reigning monarch becomes not, sooner or later,
an object of hatred to the heir apparent, and, as a
necessary consequence, to aU who are disposed to
worship the risingwn rather than the sun in its
meridian. This was peculiarl y the case at· the
court of Madrid. Godoy was, and had long been,
at variance with Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias;
and so bitter was the feeling of animosity which
subsisted between them, that the bare adoption by
Godoy of one line of policy, was sufficient to guide
Ferdinand to the adoption of its opposite. As
soon, therefore, as GOdoy'lil hostility to the French
hecame known, Ferdinand made hMte toO declare
himself a suppórter of the French interests. He
even went so far as to address a private letter to
N apoleon, in which he entreated him to deliver his
father and mother from the influence of an artful
favourite; to free Spain from the thraldom of an
upstart; and to honour himselfby granting him an
allianee with a princess of the imperial blood.
Whether Buonaparte e\'er entertailled ally serious
intention of complyillg with these requests, it wei'e
diffieult to determine; but this much is known,
that he answered Ferdinand's letter kindly, and

24 N ARRATfVB OF ,'fHE

that he readily consented to become the arbiter in
the disputes which divided the royal family of
Spain. -Howhis arbitration was conducted, Spain
and Europe will not soon cease to remember.

In the mean while however, under the pretext
of standing in need of their services, Buonaparte
required that a corps of sixteen thousand Spa-
niards under Romana should proceed to join his
armies on the shores of the Baltic. To these were
added a division of six thousand men, which, with
General O'Farrel at their head, had previously
served in Tus~any; and thus almost all the regu-
lar troops on which the government could depend,
wereremoved to so great a distance from Spain as
to be perfectIy useless. But N apoleon's duplicity
ended not here. At the very moment when he
was giving Ferdinand assurances of his regard and
protectiQn, he induced the weak Charles to heap
upon Godoy án additional10ad of favours, till both
the king and his favourite beca me intoxicated, the
one with joy, the other with vanity. By this
means,by appearing to each party inc1ined to
countenance it in its projectsand wishes, he not only
kept alive, but widened the breach which already
existed withinthe court of Madrid, and put mat-
ters in a train for that issue which, in all probabi-
lit y , he had already determined to bring about.

Thepeace of Tilsit having restored him victori-
ous to his capital, Buonaparte began to make im-

PENINSULAR W AR. 25
mediate preparations to support a war of diplomacy
by one of vi?lence. Withoutany reasonable ex-
cuse having been assigned for the measure, a rorps

·of twenty-fh·e thousand infantry and three 1ho\.\-
sand cavalry was seen to asseroble in the month
of August, 1807, at the base of the Pyrenees,
which assumed the somewhat enigmatical appel-
lation of the Corps of Observa:tion of the Gironde.
Whilst this force was organising itself under th~
directions of Marshal Junot, the Spanish roinister
at Paris was entering into a secret treaty; tlle
object of wllicll was nothing less than tlle erasure
of Portugal froro the list of nations. By the terms
of that tre.aty, since become illustrious as the "se-
cret treaty of Fontainbleau," it was agreed tllat
J unot's army should enter Portugal at once, aided
by three divisions of Spanish troops; that a se-
cond army, of forty thousand French soldiers,
should assemble in Gascony, ready to support the
first, should it meet with any serious opposition;
and that Portugal, being subdued, should be di-
. vided into tllree parts, of wllicll the following dis-
tribution was to be made. The province of Entre
Minho e Douro, with :the city of Oporto as its
capital, was to be erected into a kingdom, under
tlle title of N orthern Lusitania, and· given to the
King of Etruria, in exchange for his Italian pos.;...
sessions, which he ceded iIi full and entire sove:-
reignty to Buonaparte. In like manner, Alentejq

26 NARRATIVE OE' THE

and Algarve were to be given to Godoy, who was to
assume the style and title of Prince of the Algarves;
and the remaining Portuguese provinces wer~ to
be held by Napoleon himself, till a general pacifica-
tion should enable him to restore them to the house
of Braganza, in exchange for Gibraltar, Trinidad,
and the other Spanish colonies which the English
had conquered. These three sovereignties were,
however, to be held by investiture from the King
of Spain; and their princes were to owe to him
the same sort of obedience which, in the feudal
times, the holder of a fief owed to his sovereign
lord. The colonial possessions of Portugal, again,
were to be equally divided between the crowns of
Franee and Spain; and the Emperor of the French
was, as soon as it should be convenient, to acknow-
ledge his Catholic Majesty as emperor of the two
Americas.

Though nothing officially transpired indicative
of the object which the army of observation was
intended to effect, Europe was not so short-sighted
as to remain for one instant in doubt as to the ulti-
mate field of its operations. In the ftrst place, the
officer who wasplaced atits head had long filled,
and still continued in name at least to fill, the sta-
tion of ambassador·at the court of Lisbon from the
imperial cabinet. It is true that, on the opening
of the Austrian campaign, Junot had quitted the
seat of his diplomatic c;luties, that he might exe-

PENINSULAR WAlt. 27

cute the more congenial offices whicn devolved
upon him as aide-de-camp to tbe Emperor; but
he had done so by tbe express permission of his
master; and instead of his place being supplied by
anotber commissioned representative, the business
of the miss ion was intrusted, as in the case of
other temporary absences of tbe principal, to the
chief secretary, M. de Rayneval. This circum-
stance was of itself sufficient to create a suspicion
that something prejudicial to the interests of Por-
tugal was'intended; and if tbere were any who at
first appeared wiIling to doubt on tbe subJect,
their doubts were not permitted long to existo
The treaty of Fontainbleau was hardly. signed,
when the ministers, both of France and Spain,
presented a strong remonstrance to the Prince
Regent, requiring that the Berlín and Milan de-
crees should be strictly enforced at every harbour
of Portugal; and it was further required, on threat
of the immediate commencement of hostilities,
that all the British subjects then resident in the
kingdom sbould be seízed, and all tbe British pro-
,perty connscated.

Tbe conduct of theRegent of Portugal under
circumstances so trying, was not very different
from that which might ha ve been expected at bis
hands. He dared not refuse obedience to the first
mandate, and he remonstrated against the second
only in the mildest and most submissive terms.

28 N ARRA TIVE OF. THE

But tbe powers with whom he had to deal enter-
tainedno wish.that he should pay to tbeir relJlon-
stranees a. prompt attention; they were pleased,
rather tban the reverse, at every appearance of
~issatisfaction wbich he happened toexhibit. Find-
ing that "his sense of religion, and. the regard
which he had for existing treaties," would not per-
mit bim at once to commit so flagrant an act of
jnjUs~ice, the French and Spanish ministers de-
manded theirpasspofts; and before either these
could be given, or the unhappy Prince was ena-
bled to appeal through his own ambassadors to the
generosity of his neighbours, the troops destined
to overrun Portugal were .in motion.

PENINSULAR WAR. 29

CHAPTÉR Il.

March of Junot's armyacross the frontier~i:t p.rriveil at Sala~
tnanca,passes Alcantara, ana enters Portugal-Itssufferings
by the way-Alarm of the court of Lisbon-,-Proposal toeúlÍ~
grata to Brazil warmly supported by Lord Strangford and
Sir Sydney Smith-The court gives its consent, appoints a
regency, and emharks-Junot reaches Lisbon-His measures
for the preservation of puhlic tranquillity-Hishehaviour, at
first conciliating, but afterwards tyrannical-The tri.coloured
flag hoisted-The regeney abolished-Junot assumes su-
preme power--The Portuguese army disbatíded, and a heavy
fine imposed upon the people-General diseontent of aH
c1asses-Numerous broils and arbitrary punishments-The
Spanish troops exhibit symptoms of disaffection~Exertions
of Junot to prevent a rebellion, and to secure himself against
the English.

THE treaty of Fontainbleau was not yet signed¡
when on the 17th of October, 1807, Junot received
orders to put his troops in motion within twenty-
four hours. At daybreak on the 18th the first
division of the ármy of observation of the Gironde
crossed the Bidassoa; it was followed on the 19th

30 NARRATIV.E OF THE

by the second; and the whole army, marching in
six columns, each at the interval of one day from
that whicn had preceded it, entered Spain. About
the same time, three corps of Spanish troops be-
gan to take the road towards Portugal, by diffe-
rent routes. One of these, which was appointed
to act under the immediate orders of the French
Marshal, was directed to assemble at Alcantara,
on the Tagus. . It consisted of eight battalions of
infantry, four squadrons of cavalry, one troop of
horse artillery, and two companies of sappers and
miners; and it was commanded by Don Juan Ca-
raffa, captain-general of the province of Estrema-
dura. Another, destined to act by itself, for the
occupation of N orthern Lusitania, mustered four-
teen battalions, six squadrons, and one company
offoot artillery, and was placed under the direc-
tion of Don FranciBcu TaTanco y Plano, captain-
general of Gallicia: its point of rendezvous was
Tuy, on the borders of Minho. A third, at the
head of which was Don Francisco Solano, marquis
del Socorro, and captain-general of Andalusia,
was composed of eight battalions, five squadrons,
ahd a troop oí hone artillery,and received instruc-
tions to collect in the vicinity of Badajoz. In
order to complete these corpa, it is scarcely neces-
S3Ty to !ltate that everydis:posable soIdier in the
Spanisb army was put in requisition; thateven
the King's body-guard furnished its quota; and

PENINSULAR W AR. 31

that in the capital itself there remained, after their
departure, a garrison made up of skeletons only,
and the depots of regiments.

The French army was every where received,
during its progress through Spain, with the utmost
cordiality; it was supported at the expenseof the
government, and it reached Salamanca, where the
General expected to winter, before the middle of
November. But the last division had not come in
when a courier arrived at head-quarters, bringing
the most urgent amI imperative directions that
no halt should be made between the Bidassoa and
Lisbon. Junot had accordingly no alternative sub-
mitted to him. Without having had time to make
the slightest preparation forsuch a march, he set
forward in the dead of winter, to pursue a route
along which no depots of provisions or stores of
any kind were established; where it was at least
doubtful whether he would not meet with a formi-
dable opposition from a peasantry brave to a pro-
verb, and proverbially jéalous of the appearance of
foreigners among them; and where, at aU events,
he was quite sure of having the serious obstacles
to overcome, which a mountainous district, lntel'-
sected in every direction by rapid rivers and moun-
tain streams, would not fail to throw in his way.
The apprehension, however, that an English army
migh.t arrive at Lisbon before him, was quite suf-
ficient to make aH these' difficulties appear light.

32 N ARRA TIVE OF THE

He pushed on, and with the leading brigade of his
army, reached Alcantara on the 15th.

In this place he found General Caraffa with his
corps of Spaniards; but there was a woful scarcity
of means by which to recrui t the vigour of his own
battalions, worn out by long marches through a
difficult country, and in tremendous weather. It
was with the utrnost difficulty that the French
sóldiers could be supplied, each with rations for
twó days. Still the Ernperor's orders rnust be
obeyed; and on the 19th; after having circulated
proclarnations in which the Portuguese were 'as-
sured of protection froni insult in the event of their
reinaining <i uiet, and threatened with the rnost
terrible puníshmerit if they should in any way irn-
pede the progress of ttoops which carne only to
deliver them froro the yoke of England., the allied
arroies were mice niore put in motion.

It is not necessary tó follow the movel.llents of
Junot's corps very minutely. It is sufficient to
observe that, though the peasantry in general
either rested peaceably in their cottages, 01' at the
most fied toO the mountains and left their hornes
desolate,"thé routa of the invaders rnight be traced,
by gard.ens devastated, houses ruined, and whole
villages burned to' the ground. Notwithstanding
this was the case, and though not á. gun was fired
from the day whén the head of the first French
colurnn passed the front¡er, till the ar1'ival of its

PENINSULAR WAlto 33

rear-guard in Lisbon, the march was far from
being a tour of pleasure to those who performed it.
The seasonchanced to be particularly stormy and
inclemenL The rain feH in torrents, cutting up
the indistinct paths which traversed the moun-
tains, and swelling into formidable rivers, streams
whichmight usually be crossed without apprehen-
sion, either by man or beast. The reader is doubt-
less aware that the road, if such it deserves to be
termed, which leads from Alcantara to Lisbon, by
way of Castello Brarico and Abrantes, passes over
the summits of a ridge of rocks, and through a
coulltry as desert and unfruitful as any which tl}e
European traveller is in the habit of visiting. 1 t
was by this track that J unot thought fit to pro-
ceed; and the fatigue and privations which his
troops were in consequence condemned to endure,
are represented to have been more terrible than
generaIly fall to thelot of a retreating army. As
a matter of course, neither wintry torrents nor per-
manent rivers were, in that wild district, supplied
with bridges; the soldiers were consequently ob-
liged to cross as they best could, whenever such
obstacles carne in their' way; 'and such was the
rapidity of the streams in many places, that whole
companies of men, and whole troops oí horses,
were swept away and destroyed.A march throúgh
defiles like these could not long- be conducted
with order or regularity.· The artillery was soon

VOL. J. e

34 NARHATIVE Ol>' TIIE

left behind; of the cava1ry, only the best mounted
were enabled to keep up; and even the infantry
lost its ranks, and straggled, for many miles, over
the face of the country. Long before the towers
of Abrantes rose upon their view, the French co-
lumns may . be said to have dissolved themselves ;
for there were not aboye five thousand men who
followed the General that were in any condition,
either from bodily strength or local situation, to
oppose an enemy.

But though fully aware of this, and of the risk
which he'ran by disregarding it, Junot feltthat
other and still stronger reasons forbade his paus-
ing, even though a pause of a few days might bring
back to their standards the thousands whom wea-
riness and famine had left by the wayside. At
Abrantes, intelligence reached him of the line of
conduet which thePortuguese government was
preparing to pursue; and it was with him an
object of the first importance to reach the capi-
tal, if possible, in time to interpose for its pre-
vention.

The treaty of Fontainbleau had not been kept
so secret, but that the English government obtained
information of its object; and that information it
lost no time in communicating to the cabinet of
Lisbon. England had given her assent to the pro-
position made by the Regent of Portugal, of shut-
ting· the ports of his kingdom against· her mer-

PENINSULAR W A H. 35

chants; she was aware that her aneient ally, in so
doing, aeted only by compulsion; and she there-
fore connived at the transaction. But it was im-
possible for her to forgive the next step which his
timid poliey indueed him to take; and when he
proceeded, in obedienee to the mandate of Franee,
to arrest all British subjeets, and confiseate all
British property, Lord Strangford, the ambassador,
could do no otherwise tban retire on board of one
of the. ships of tbe squadron, which,under the com-
mand·of SirSidney Smith, lay at that time at
anchor in tbe Tagus. As soon, however, as the
details ofthe secret treachery reached them, both
the Ambassador and the Admiral requested and
obtained an audience of the Prince Regent. In
this they laid before him the particulars ·of the ae-
counts which they had received; and in the mast
foreible terms urged him to adopt sorne means for
the preservation of his own persan, and the safety
of the royal family. The great question, however,
was, of what nature these means were to be. He
had hesitated too long to permit any idea of open
resistance being entertained; besides, neither the
army, nor tbe fortresses, nor the: general state of
the nation, was such as to inspire any hope of
resisting successfulIy. It was then that the Bri-
tisb functionaries pressed upon him the wisdom of
removing with his court and family to the Brazils,
and fixing there tbe seat of his government, till

36 N AURATIVE OF THE

the troubles of the present times should pass away.
This was a terrible alternative; nor can it surprise
any one, that the Regent of Portugal should have
wavered long, and frequently changed his de ter-
niinations, before he could muster sufficient cou-
rage to adopt it. But, at last, the famousarticle in
the Moniteur was shown to him, in which it was
openly announced that the house of Braganza had
ceased to reign. AH ground of hesitation was now
removed. The British subjects who had been ar-
rested were set at liberty; the British property
which had been seized was restored to ¡ts rightful
owners; and the royal family of Portugal made
every preparation for quitting the ancient seat of
its sovereignty under the protection of the British
flag. These resolutions had been formed, and
these preparations were in a state of forwardness,
when Junot reached Abrantes; and it was the no-
tice which he received of the intended emigration,
which induced him, without pausing to refresh his
followers, or collect those who lagged behind, to
press on towards the capital.

The consterriation and anxiety which were
evinced by the inhabitants of Lisbon, as soon as a
rumour of the intended departure of the Prince
got abroad, beggar all attempt at description.
Devotedly attached both by nature and habit to
the persons of their sovereigns, the Iower orders
beheld, in the proposed ellligration, a certain pre-

PENINSULAR WAR. 37

lude to national ruin and individual misery; whilst
the higher classes, such at least as r,easoned at aH,
carne to the conclusion that, as surely as the royal
family shouId abandon the paIace of their ances-
tors, so surely would the prophetic declaration in
the Moniteur receive its accomplishment. N or
was this the only circumstance which tended to
excite general alarm, independently of the im-
pending approach of the French troops. As if he
had come thither, by appointment, Junot's army
hadhardly crossed the frontier, when the Russian
admiraI Siniavin entered the Tagus, with nine
ships of the line and two frigates. Such a coinci-
dence could not fail deeply to affect men already
agitated by a thousand fears and doubts; ror
though his 'arrival was purely accidental, ít ap-
peared to the ill-fated Portuguese tha! a plan of
ca· operation between the French General and the
Russian Admiral had been laid; and that the lat-
ter had come, at thís critical juncture, to render
assistance to the former in the subjugation of the
kingdom.
, _ In the mean while, great preparations were
making by the court for its' iritended emigration.
The royal treasury was emptied;' much of the
pIate, both ofthe Prince and of the courtiers who
designed to follow him, was packed up and made
ready for removal on board of ship ;and fillaIly, a
proclamation appeared, assigning as the motive for

38 NARHATIV.E OF THE

a step so decisive, the conviction which rested
upon the mind of the Regent, that his person, and
not the oppression of tbe Portuguese people, was
the desjgn of the p:resent invasion. A regency
was likewise nominated, to consist of four indivi-
duals; namely, the Marquess de Abrantes; Lieu-
tenant-general Francisco da Cunba de' Menezes~
regidor das justi~as, principal castro of tbe royal
conncil; Don Pedro de Millo Breyner, likewise of
the council; and Don Francisco de N oronha, lieu-
tenant-general, and president of the board of con-
science. In case any of these should refuse to act r
the Conde Monteiro Mor was nominated to take
his place; and the same nobleman was appointed
president of the Senado da Camara, having the
Conde Sampaio, or Don Miguel Periera Forjaz,
and Joam Anthonio Salter de Mendon~a, as his
secretaries. These functionaries were instructed
to use every exertion for the. preservation of the
general peace of the kingdom; they were to admi-
nister the laws in every respect as if the Regent
bimself were present; and aboye aH, they were
themselves to receive, and to instruct aU good
Portuguese to receive~ the French troops as friends.
Upon tbis point the proclamation was the nlore
explicit, inasmuch as both the English Admiral,
and the inhabitants of Lisbon, had manifested a
strong desire to defend the city to the last; and
as the Regent was satisfied that aH resistan ce

PENINSULARW AR. 39

must be fruitless, he positively forbade any to be
offered.

Whilst matters were in this train on the banks
of the Tagus, J unot was moving, as rapidly as the
state of the weather and the disordered condition
of his troops would allow, upon the capital. He
had assembled together as many soldiers of every
corps and division as appeared capable of bearing
the fatigue of a renewed march, and he caused
large vessels to beconstructed for the conveyance,
down the stream, of those multitudes whom disease
or weariness rendered incapable of proceeding
further. General Caraffa, with a portion of the
Spanish corps, was. detached to Thomar for the
purpose of collecting provisions, and keeping that
part of thecountry in awe. The Teserve of artil-
lery and the heavy baggage, which had been left
behind, received instructions to follow by the road
which passes Alcantara and Badajoz; whilst the
guns attached to the divisions in advance, were
most of them conveyed by water carriage. Having
. completed these arrangements, he found that it
was possible for him tomove forward at the head
of six or eight thousand men; and he 10st no time
in putting them in motion.

On the 26th of N ovember, the advanced guard,
consisting of four chosen battalions and a regiment
of Spanish hussars, reached Punhete. On the
following morning it pas~ed the Zezere in boats;

40 N A RRATIVE OF THE

and J unot, who accompanied it, was met on the
opposite bank by Jose Oliveira de Barreto, com-
mandant of Aranjo. This officer was desirous that
the march· of the French troops should be sus-
pended; and that sorne confidential person should
be sent forward, for the purpose of arranging all
the details of oécupation with the proper authori-
tieso But as .he accompanied his request with an
enunciation of the proposed departure of the royal
family, Junot would on no acc()unt accede to it.
The troops continued their marcho .

The rains had fallen so heavi1y, that the whole
plain of Golega was inundated, and the advanced
guard which traversed it found the water· cover
their knees; the rest of the troops, by turning
off in the direction ofTorres Novas and Pernes,
escaped ·that inconvenience. Buí no obstacles
impedéd them. They reached Santarem in due
time, and found ít in a state of great order and
prosperity. N one of the inhabitants had aban-
doned their homes, and all received the invaders
with kiridn-ess; they were repaid for this conduct
by the sack and ruin of the town.

At last Sacavem, a· vi-llage situated abont two
leagues from Lisbon, was gained; the head of the
colurnn reaching it at an early hour on the 29th.
Here the French general was met by deputations
fl'om the supreme council, from the city, and from
the mel'chants ofLisbon, who carne to congratulate

PENINSULAR WAR. 41

him on his arrival, in the names of these bodies;
and here he was informed of too embarkation and
actual departure of the royal famny. At the same
time the representatives of the .regency~ Lieute-
nant-general Martinho de Souza e Albuquerque,
and Brigadier-general Francisco de Borga Gar~ao
Stockler, warned him of the state of violent ex-
citation into which the inhabitants of the capital
were thrown. They assured him that an English
fleet was at the mouth of the rivet, evidentIy
waiting for a falr wind to carry it up; and that,
unless the greatest pl'ecautions were used, it would
be a hard matter to preserve that amity between
the French and the Portuguese, which not pru-
dence only, but the express orders of the Prince
Regent, required them to preserve. Junot heard
them to an end, and then dismissed thein with
a declaration, that he would hold the regencyre-
sponsible for the peace of the city: To the other
deputations, again, he recommended diligenee and
zeal in calming the spirits of their fellow-citizens ;
and he sent forward numerous copies of a proc1a-
mation, to be posted in the most conspicuous parts
of Lisbon, declaratory of the good-will of the Em-
peror towards the Portuguese natioll. This done,
he made ready to pursue his journey.

But though he thus affected to hold the perils of
his situation in contempt, it was not possible for
J unot to feel himself really at his ease. Of the

42 .NA,ltRATIVE OF 'l'liE

twenty-eight thousand men whom he had led
across tlle Pyrenees, scarcely six thousand were at
this moment !n a condition to acto The rest were
se.attered over the line "ofmarch in one long column,
.dividedhere and there by impassable torrents, or no
less impassable inundations. The division nearest
to his advanced guard was that of General Dela-
borde, which had as yet penetrated no further
than t-o Santarem. Of the cavalry and artillery
which had fallli!n into the rear soon after the army
began to move from Alcantara, no intelligence had
reached him; and he was quite ignorant whether
or not the Spanish corps, which had been directed
to move by Alentejo and Entre-Douro-e-Minho,
had yet begun their march. Thus situated, and
with a large and populous city before him, in which
at least ten thousand regular. troops were in gar-
rison, JunotcoulQ. not but look forward to the
event with serious apprehension. But he was
aware that any appearance of doubt or misgiving
would now prove fatal to him. He accordingly
got together as many men as could be collected,
and on the following day entered Lisbon.

It is hardly necessary to remind the reader,
that whilst the French Marshal was thus per-
forming his painful journey, the royal family of
Portugal were hurrying their arrangements for
the abandonment of their country. The morning
of the 27th had been fixed upon for their embar-

PESINSULAH. W AR. 43

kation; and on that day, amidst the tears and
regrets of many thousand spectators, they as-
cended the vesseIs appointed to convey them.
But the wind proved not only adverse. but bois-
terous: it blewa perfect hurricane, and the fleet
was unable to move. At last, however, a favour-
able breeze sprang up, and at daybreak on the
29th the anchors were lifted. It was well that
the storm ceased when it did; for the ships were
scarcely across the bar when the French entered
the city.

For sorne little time after the arrival of Junot,.
all things went on, or appeared to go on, in the
Portuguese capital, as they had be en accustomed
to do. The French soldiers coming in by small
detachments, were conducted by the native ma-
gistracy, and by the native troops, to their quar-
ters; -and both they and their officers possessed
sufficient prudence to conduct themselves with
decency and decorum. But the stragglers were
scarcely collected, and the strength of the weary
restored, when French domination began to show
itself in its . true colours; and a blow was struck
at the national pride of the Portuguese, such as
they found it difficuIt even at the moment to
bear.

As soon as he found himself sufficiently strong
to act with a high hand, J unot gave orders that
Lisbon and all the ports in the Tagus should

44 NARRATIVE OF THE

be evacuated by the Portuguese troops; whose
pIaces were to be supplied by French divisions.
Delaborde was nominated governor of the capital;
and his soldiers were quartered~ not in barracks
or .public-houses, but in the convents. General
Loison with his division occupied Cintra, Mafra,
and the sea·coast as far as the mouth of the Mon-
dego; one brigade, under General Thomieres,
being q uartered in .the castle and península of
Penniche. . To the third division, at the head of
which was General Travot, was intrusted the
defence of the entrance of the Tagus. Its héad-
quarters were at Ocyras, and it had garri~ons in
the forts St. Julien and Cascaes on the right
bank; whilst on the left, two battalions were
encamped upon the heights of Mafarem. The
cavalry and artillery were kept éntire in Lisbon;
there were detachments of infantry in Santarem
and Abrantes; and a Swiss battalion had the
garrison of Almeida. Such was the disposition
of theFrench troops; the Spaniards were ar-
ranged as follows ;-
. The division ofGeneral Caraffa having recalled
its detachmentfrom Thomar, took up its quarters
in Lisbon, and was intermixed with the French
corps; Solano, again, w ho had presented himself
before . Elvas on the 2nd of December, and to
whom that important place opened its gates,
having disposed three battalions in the fort, es-

PENINSULAR WATL 45

tablished his own head-quarters at Setubal. From
that point he sent out parties, which occupied the
casUes and towers of the Alentejo and Algarve,
and completed the subjugation of the new prin-
cipality; whilst Taranco was in like manner
spreading his force over the northern provinces.
The last officer having secured Valen~a, a place
of considerable importance as commanding the
passages of Minho and the Lima, threw a garrison
into the chateaux oí Sant lago j and on the 13th
took possession of Oporto, where he fixed his
head -q uarters.

Having ascertained that, of the arrangements
just described, sorne were already complete, and
the rest hurrying to their completion, Junot pro-
~eeded to impress upon the minds· of the Por-
tuguese by decided proofs that they were a con.,.
quered people. 011 the 13th of December, a grand
review of all the troops in the capital was an-
nounced. The soldiers assembled in the principal
streets and squares, the infantry in battalion~, the
cavalry in squadrons, and the artillery limbered
up and in order for service; and the whole popu-
lation of the place flócked from their houses in
order to witness the spectacle. They were gazing
with deep interest at the scene before them, when
a salute of artillery from the walls of the Moorish
fort attracted their attention. AH eyes. were.
instanUy turned thither, and they beheld the .

4G N ARRA TIVE OF THE

aneient flag of Portugal torn from the staff, upon
which the tri-coloured standard of France was
mounted. It was a sight which seemed to affect
them with emotions too deep for utterance. At
first a solemn silence prevailed, broken onIy by
the rattle of the soIdiers' arms, or the voices of
their commanders; but by and by a murmur arose,
l'esembling rather the roar of the ocean upon its
bed of sand, than any other sound in nature. The
people were grievously agitated. Cries of "Por-
tugal for ever! Death to the French !" were heard
on every side; and it appeared that sorne mighty
popular convulsion was inevitable. But Junot
had taken care to secure the persons of the re-
gency, and of the principal men of the city, whose
heads might pay the forfeit of any act of insurrec-
tion; and the mob, without leaders and without·
arms, gradually" melted away. The rest of that
day, and the whole of the night, were spent in a
state of feverish agitation, which, without leading
to any immediate results, gave sure indication of
a spirit of discontent abroad; and which, sooner or
later, must bring about sorne dangerous convul-
SIOn.

In spite, however, of this flagrant attack upon
their dignity as an independent nation, the Portu-
guese continued for some time to bear their fate,
if not in absolute quiet, at all events without giving
vent to their feelings in a way calculated to excite

PENINSULAR "'A R. 47

the senous alarm of their conqueror. Private
quarrels, ending even in bloodshed, between indi-
viduals of the garrison and the inhabitants, were
by no means unfrequent; but in public, that is to
say, on a great scale, events appeared to flow on
in their usual channel. Junot made no other
change in the form of the government, than by ad-
ding to the list of regency one or two creatures of
his own; and the laws continued to be adminis-
tered in the name oí the legitimáte sovereign as
heretofore. Above an things, J unot was extremely
cautious in concealing, as far as he could, the terms
ofthe treaty ofFontainbleau. So far fromdivulging
these, he took care .on all occasions to make it
known that the Emperor was particularIy desirous
of preserving the integrity of the kingdom of Por-
tugal; till at last the idea began to be entertained,
that at the worst the Portuguese might apprehend
only a change of dynasty.

The same line of conduct which he pursued
himself, the general s in eommand of the Spanish
corps had been pointedly requested to adopt; but
to the wishes of their chief they paid, in this
respect, very Httle attention. Taranco, indeed~
went no further than to insinuate to the authori-
ties of Oporto, that they ought from thenceforth to
regard their city as attached to the monarchy of
Spain; but Solano, the personal friend of Godoy,
went mueh further. He appointed a grand judge,

48 N ARHATIVE OF TIIE

anda superintendent of finan ces, in . the na me of
Emmanuel, prince of the AIgarves; and he caused
certain pieces of money to be coined, bearing upan
them the arms of that minion, with a suitable in-
scription. Except in these particulars, however,
Solano did nothing very offensive to the prej ud ices
of the Portuguese, by whom, on the contrary, he
seems to have been highly, and not undeservedly,
esteemed.

Matters continued in this state, Junot directing
the principal share of his attention to the sea-side,
and making every exertion to oppose anyatterripts
which might be made by the English against him,
up to tJ1e 1st of February, 1808. On that day,
however, he published a decree, which had issued
from his master whilst at Milan, and bore date
the 23rd of the preceding December. It dissolved .

. for ever the· council of regencyappointed by the
Prince of the 'Brazils, and directed Marshal J unot,
duke of Abrantes, to govern Portugal alone, in the
name of the Emperor· N apoleon. It required that
a chosen body ofPortuguese troops should be sent,
with as little delay as possible, into Franee. It
éhaIíged the appella.tion of the corps now stationed
about Lisbon, from that of the army of observation
of the Gironde, to· that of the army of Portugal;
and it condemned the Portuguesenation to pay,
as the price of the protection of their private pro-
perty, a fine of one hundred millions of francs~

PENINSULAR WAR. 49

Such were the orders of N apoloon; and these the
Duke of Abrantes proceeded, without the slightest
compunction, to enforce.

The effect produced by the promulgation of this
decree, and by the changes in every department of
the state which arose out of it, was such as it
were no easy matter to pourtray. It was felt, not
in the capital only, but through every part of the
mosi' remo te provinces. The army, already in
a state of disorganisation, disbaiided itself, and
those who had carried arms as soldiers, continued
to bear them as robbers and plunderers. The pea-
santry, heart-broken and desperate, refused to sow
their fields with corno The higher classes, whose
usual place of residence was Lisbon, fled in dismay
from their homes, till the city presented the ap-
pearance of a place lately visited by the plague.
True, indeed, there were traitors to their country,
who continued to surround the throne of the in-
truder, and to flatter his vanity, or that of his
master, by addresses the most fulsome and degra-
ding; but the mass of the nation felt keenly the
insults and wrongs to which they were subjected,
and seemed to wait only for the proper momen!" to
take revenge. .

It was not long before the offended pride of the
Portuguese began to vent itself in acts of violence,
for which the growing insolence of the French fur-
nished ample grounds, but which were invariably

YOL. 1. D

50 N ARRATIVE OF TI-lE

followed by punishments the most terrible and the
most arbitrary. At Mafra, because the popuIace
had uttered cries indicative of the state of their
feelings,one citizen was condemned to death by
sentence of a military commission, and publicly
executed. A few days afterwards, a quarrel arose
at the village of Caldas de Ranha, between certain
of the French troops quartered there, and sorne
soldiers of the 2nd regiment of Oporto. The affair
was represented to Junot as a seditious commo-
tion; upon which not only was the regimentbroke
unde.r circumstances to it the most ignominious,
but six peaceable inhabitants of theplace, who
had taken no part in the disturbance, were shot.
Similar scenes occurred in almost every city,
townJ village, and hamlet in Portugal, tiU the
minds of the people were wrought up to dare as
well as to endure every thing.

As soon as J unot perceived the state of feeling
to which the Portuguese in general were brought,
he 10st no time in fulfilling another of N apoleon's
directions, by disbanding the whole of the army,
except those regiments onIy which he had ap-
pointed to proceed into France. Previous to the
present invasion, .the standing army of Portugal
amounted to thirty-seven regiments of horse and
foot.' Junot permitted no more than six regiments
of infantry and three of cavalry to remain. with
their colourso The rest were dismissed to their

PENINSULAlt WAR. 51

homes; al1d even this paltry force reeeived posi-
tive orders to mareh, under the guidal1ce of the
Marquis de Alorna, towards Bayonne. The militia
had long ago been relieved from the fatigues of
military serviee; and now to complete his mea-
sures, an ediet was given out, requiring every
Portuguese to surrel1der up to eertain constituted
authorities his fire-arms; and prohibiting even
swords from being worn in the streets or public
ways.

Things continued in this state from the month
of February till summer had considerably ad-
vanced. In every part of the eountry. sueh pie-
tures, carved devices, or emblems of any sort, as
had a tendency to keep alive a recollection of past
national independence, were removed or defaced.
The royal arms were pulled down from over the
gateways of the palaces; the Quinas, or old 'Por-
tuguese standard, was universally displaced, to
make way for the imperial eagle; and even
justice was now administered according to the
French code, and in the name of the French Em-
peror. Yet were there occurring froID time to
time events which might have served to satisfy
any reasonable person that matters had been
pushed too faro Not to dweIl at Iength upon the
tumults and massacres which here and there took
place, it soon became evident that the Spanish
troops who had accompanied the French, were

52 NARRATIVE OF TUE

allies only in name. The chiefs, disgusted
and

dissatisfied with so flagrant a violation of
the

treáty of Fontainbleau as the recent acts of Ju
not

presented, hardly affected to eoneeal their e
ha,..

grin; whilst pieces of information began gradu
ally

to circulate among the eommon soldiers, wh
ich

stirred up in thero a disposition the reverse
of

friendly towards their nominal comrades. At
last,

an order arrived froro Madrid, aeeoropanied by
an

humble request on the part of Godoy, addres
sed

personally to Marshal J unot, for the return o
f the

several corps into their OWll eountry. Aeq
uies-

eehce with it was of course refused, where
ver

J unot possessed the power oí refusal; and
the

divisions of Caraffa and Taranco remained at t
heir

stations. But Solano's corps actually took
its

départure, with the exeeption of four battali
ons,

which continued to garrison Setubal. Junot
was

alarmed by this movement, and despatehed K
el-

lerman with his brigade to Elvas, for the purp
ose.

of watching its results. In the same disposit
ion,

he ordered General Quesnel, a Freneh officer, to
proceed to Oporto, and take the cornmand of

the

Spanish troops there, whoro the death of Tara
nco

had deprived of a leader; and he particul
arly

directed him to overawe the Portuguese by
the

presence of the Spaniards, and to keep the S
pa-

niards to their duty by exciting in them a dr
ead

of the Portuguese. N 01' was he reroiss in
the

53

adoption of other expedients for tne preservation
of public peace. Whilst his emissaries were
busily employed in all quarters collecting a
tribute oppressive beyond endurance, he gave
every encouragement to those worthless Portu-
guese, who judged it a ·prudent measure to ap-
proach the imperial throne with their petitions,
and to draw up the forms of a new constitution,
to be administered by sorne prince of the Em-
peror's choice. To the state of the marine, like-
wise, he paid considerable attention. Through
the exertions of M. Majendie, a captain in the
French navy, he fitted out and armed two ships
of the line, 'of74 guns each, three frigates, and
seven smaller vessels; besides several hulks, in
which it had be en customary to confine prisoners.
It is true that none of these were rendered effec-
tive; ·but they at all events served the purposes
of floating batteries; and they promised to prove
of considerable utility in case an English squadron
should endeavour to force the passage of the bar.
AH Junot's dispositions, however, were of no avail.
A doud had already collected in another part of
thehorizon, which there was no reason to expect
would dissolve without a storm; and the storm no
suoner began to rage, than it extended its influ':'
ence to every part of his insecure vice-royalty.

54 NARRATIVE OF THE

CHAPTER III.

Entrance of fresh armies into Spain-Seizure of the frontier
fortresses, and advance of Murat upon Madrid- Conster-
nation of Charles and Godoy- Preparations for escape to
South America defeated by the mob-Godoy draggéd to
prison-Charles abdicates, and Ferdinand is proclaimed king
-Murat alTives in the capital-Departure of the royal family
for Bayonne-Tumult of thc 2nd of May~Resignation of
the rights of the house of Bourbon-Secret instructions of
Ferdinand to the regency-Measures adopted by Murat to
preserve public tranquillity.

THE sixth article of the treaty of Fontainbleau
had stipulated, "that a corps of forty thousand
French troops should assemble at Bayonne, on or
about the 20th of N ovember, for the purpose of
supporting the force previously sentinto Portugal,
in case the English should oppose its progress, or
menace it with an attack;" but it was expressly
specified that the latter corps should make no
movement in advance until the two high Contract-
ing parties had come to a perfect understanding
on the subject.

PENINSULAR W AR. 55

In accordance with the tenorof this arrange-
ment, Junot's corps had hardly commenced its
march, when the army destined to aupport it be-
gan to be formed. Earl y in N ovem ber there were
twenty-four thousand infantry, between three and
four thousand cava1ry, and thirty-eight pieces of
artillery, in the camp; and by the 22nd of the
same month, the whole, under the orders of Ge-
neral Dupont, crossed the Pyrenees. For this
movement the assent of the Spanish comt was
neither obtained nor requested. Buonaparte felt
himself already too strong to stand in need of it ;
and the corps pressed forward without opposition
of any sortto Valladolid. Here the head-quarters
were established; the troops being cantoned in
the villages along the COUfse of the Douro, whilst
detachments were pushed on as far as.Salamanca,
in order that a persuasion might be generaUy
created that its ultimate destination was Lisbon.

N ot satisfied with having thus introduced two
armies into the hcart of nations professedly in a
state of profound peace with his government, N a-
poleon caused a third to form itself where the two
former had been stationed, and a fourth· to be
organised at Perpignan, in the very opposite ex-
tremity of the Pyrenees. N o great while elapsed
before both the one and the other penetrated into
Spain. The former, under Marshal Moncey, con-
sisting of twenty-five thousand infantry, three

56 N4.RRATIVE OF THE

thousand cavalry, and forty pie ces of cannon,
passed the Bidassoa on the 9th of January, OCCU""
pying the th~ee provinces of Biscay, and extending
as far as Castile; the latter, which amounted in
all to about fifteen thousand men, and was headed
by Duhesme, made its movement about a month
latero The progress of both was marked by deeds
oftreachery, ofwhich a few words will suffice to re-
call the particulars to the recollection of the reader.

As soon as N apoleon had fully determined upon
the proceedings which he afterwards adopted with
respect to Spain, it became to him a matter of the
first importan ce to be put in possession of the dif-
ferent fortresses and strong-holds which covered
its .northern frontier, and protected it against
French. invasion. These, it is probably needless
to add, are St. Sebastiari, in Biscay; Pampeluna,
in N avarre; and San Fernando de Figueres, and
Barcelona, in Catalonia. Whoever may happen
to command these four cities, may be said to com-
mand the four great passes of the Pyrenees; and
to obtain the command of them at any cost and
by any means, was the last and most urgent order
given by their chief to the French generals.

The methods which these severally adopted. to
carry their master's projects into effect, are too well
known to require a very minute repetition. San
Fernando, feebly garrisoned, and more feebly go-
verned, opened its gates to the brigade of General

PENINSULAlt WAR. 57

Nicolas, as soon as that officer demanded permis-
sion to lodge his soldiers in the citadel for the
night; and the troops which thus obtained an en-
trance, rewarded the hospitality of tbeir allies,
by turning them out of the place, and keeping pos-
session of it themselves. At Barcelona, a little
more of cunning was requisite by the general-in-
chief Duhesme. Having obtained quarters for his
men in the town, be feH upon the fol1owing strata-
gem, for the purposeof introducing them into the
two castles,-the Citadel, and Fort Mon Jouich,
.:-which, at opposite extremities, hold the city in
subjection. On the 16th of February, the troops
were ordered to assemble on the glacis of the cita-
del~ under the pretext of being reviewed previous
to their departure. Lecchi, an Italian officer,
commanded on that occasion; and the soldiers
who acted their part in the busines's so cleverly,
were aH Italians. Whilst the Spanish garrison-
the guard upon duty at the gate not excepted-
were intently occupied in watching the progress
of the inspection, two companies upon the right of
the line suddenly feH to the rear, and throwing off
their knapsacks, ran with great speed towards
the drawbridge. This they covered, before there
was time given to raise it; and General Lecchi
following with the whole of his staff, and exclaim-
ing that he only came to pay La visit to the Go-
verno~, two battalions were enabled to make

58 NARRATIVE OF THE

good their entrance, whilst the Spaniards were
yet wondering at the cause of the sudden tumulto
As soon as his object had been so far effected,
Duhesme proceeded to attempt the reduction of
Fort Mon Jouich by a process somewhat different.
He boldly demanded, in the name of N apoleon,
that it should be surrendered to him, threatening,
in . case of refusal, an instant declaration of war ;
and the Governor was too timid, or too faithless,
to resist such an appeal.

The most important, however, of an the frontier
towns is Pampeluna; and the task of obtaining
possession of it devolved upon General Darmagnac.
Pampeluna, like the other places already occu-
pied, lies wholly at the merey of its citadel; and
though Darmagnac's troops were very readily ad-
mitted into the town, the Governor, an old and
faithful Spaniard, took every precaution to hinder
them from making a lodgment in the castle. With
this view he would admit no greater number than
sixty or seventy French soldiers within the walIs
at a time, who carne only to receive their daily
rations; and behind whom, as soon as they had
entered, the draw-bridge was carefully drawn up.
1t required some management to deceive an officer
possessed of so great a degree of caution; but Dar-
magnac's mind was fruitful in resources, and he
contri ved at last tooutwit his wary antagonist.

The French General had taken up his abode in

PENINSULAR WAR. 59

a house which stood upon the esplanade, midway
between the town and the castle;, into which,
during the night of the 15th February, he intro-
duced a hundred grenadiers, well armed, and
amply supplied with ammunition, one by one, and
in profound silence. On the morning of the 16th,
a fatigue party of sixty men proceeded, according
to custom, to receive their rations in the citad el ;
but they were aH rnen of tried courage, and at
their head was an officer of valour and known
judgment, M. Robert, chef de battalion of the
70th regiment. Under the pretext of being be-
fore theirtime, and of waiting for the arrival of
lhe quarter-master, sorne of them remained stand-
ing upon the draw-bridge, whilst the rest took
shelter against;; a passing shower, in the guard-
room. At a given signal they rose upon the
Spanish guardo The sentinels were disarmed,
and the rnuskets of those who were not on duty,
and with which the French soldiers had pre-
tended to arnuse thernselves, were suddenly
turned against their owners. The hundred grena-
diers now advanced at a run; and two battalions,
which had been for sorne time formed in expecta-
tion of the event, showed themselves on the glacis.
In spite of all his vigilance, Don Francisco Cer-
nero saw that his post was carried, and he sub-
rnitted.

The manner in which Sto Sebastian, again,

60 NARRATIVE OF THE

changed its masters, was even more simple than
any of the preceding. General Thouvenot having
been sent thither with the ostensible view of
forming a depot, for the assembling of stragglers
from different regiments in advance, and forward-
ing them to their respective stations, took care to
increase the number of his detachments so largely,
that they becarne at last too many for the Spanish
garrison; and the garrison was in consequence
marched out, t6 make way for a corps of French
troops.

Having thus succeeded, almost beyond his ex-
pectations, in opening a way into the very heart of
Spain, Napoleon no longer deemed it necessary to
affect concealment as to his ultimate purposes.
Column after coiumn poured across the Pyrenees,
till the whole line of road from the Bidassoa to the
Douro was covered with French soldiers. In
Catalonia again, fresh reinforcements daily ar-
rived, ti11 Marshal Bessieres, to whom the chief
command in that district was assigned, found
hirnself at the head of twenty-five thousand men,
including six thousand of the infantry, cavalry,
and artillery, of the imperial guardo But it was
to Murat, grand duke of Berg, that the important
task of subjugating' Spaill was committed. He
was recalled from Madrid, where for sorne time
back he had acted ostensibly as arnbassador,
though in reality as the promoter of internal dis-

PENINSULAR WAR. 61
,

cord in the bosom of the court; and being ap-
pointed lieutenant to the Emperor, proceeded to
take command of the grand army.

In the mean while, events hado occurred in the
Spanish capital, such as to draw upon the actors
in them the attention, not o.f Spain only, but ofthe
whole of Europe. First of aH, the inhabitants of
Madrid were astonished by the sudden appearance
of a royal' proclamation; in which it was an-
nounced that Ferdinand, prince of Asturias, had
been detected in a conspiracy to. dethrone and
murder his father, and was arrested. This was
folIowed in a few days by a second proclama-
tion, which informed the public that the Prince,
having confessed his guilt, and given up the names
of his associates, had been pardoned, " the voiee
of nature prevailing over that of strict justiee," and
admitted once more into the royal favour. The
surprise excited by proceedings so extraordinary
had not subsided, when intelligence ofthe opera-

. tions of the French armies on the frontier, and
their rapid advance. into the heart of the country,
excited in a much more forcible and natural
degree the consternation of all classes. Godoy,
alarmed not so much for the probable fate of the
nation, as for the destiny which might befall him-
self, thought at one moment of recalling the Spa-
nish troops from Portugal, and keeping them in
readiness to act as circumstances might require;

62 NARRATIVE OF 'fHE

and an order wa,s actually issued to that effect.
At other times he urged the King to forward a
scheme, to whích he had formerly opposed himself
with all his influence, namely, the procuring a
wife for Ferdinand from among the princesses of
the imperial blood. ;N ext, he threw out hints
as to the propriety of abdicating the crown, as
soon as the proposed marriage should be com-
pleted; whilst for himself, an asylumsomewhere
in the heart of France appeared to 1101d out the
best hopes of protection against the violence of his
enemies.

J n the midst of these deliberations arrived two
announcements, of which it would be difficult to
determine whether the former or the latter struck
th is imbecile court wi th the greater degre'e of horror.
A letter from N apoleon himself, accompanying
certain presents of beautiful horses, informed the
King of Spain that it was the Emperor's intention
to visit Madrid, and there to settle with him,
upon a solid foundation, the affairs both of Spain
and Portugal. Such an arrival was by no means
desired either by Charles or his favourite; but
whilst they were yet hesitating how to act, Don
Eugenio Izquierdo, who had long resided at París
as the tool of Godoy, suddenly made his appear-
ance in the Escurial, and communicated the fol-
lowing details. The Emperor, he said, had
determined to seize Portugal for himself, and to

PENINSULAR WAR. 63

exchange it with the crown of Spain for the pro-
vinces north of the Ebro. N ew treaties of COffi-
merce and of alliance, offensive and defensive,
such as tbe safety of his empire required, were
about to be drawn up. Tbe title of Emperor of
the Indies would be assigned to the King of Spain,
whose son, the Prince of Asturias, should receive
the hand of the Emperor's niece; but the marriage
must be the subject of an especial negociation,
an.d might be deferred till other arrangements were
complete. In addition to this oflicial intelligence,
Izquierdo took care to inform his master of the
suspicions which he himself entertained touching
the Emperor's real designs; and the statement
threw all parties affected by it into the most se-
rious alarmo

lt was now that the wisdom of following the
example set by the Regent of Portugal, and re-
moving the court to its South American posses-
sions, suggested itself to the mind of Godoy. His
dreams of sovereignty were by this time wholly
dispelled, and his highest ambition was to secure a
place of retreat for himself, whatever might be the
fate of Spain; nor did he find Charles in a mood
at all different [rom his own. The plan was no
sooner proposed than it was agreed too The King
and Queen both professed their willingness to fly;
and preparations were instantIy set on foot fol' se-
curing a safe embarkation.

64 NARRATIVE OF 'fHE

With this view the corps of General Solano was
recalled from Alentejo, and ordered to occupy the
mountains of Guadarrama. Detachments of infan-
try, cavalry, and artillery, were directed to cover
the road from Madrid to Seville ; whilst the body-
guard, nine squadrons of the royal carabiniers, the
battalions of the Walloon and Spanish guards, and
the regiments of national infantry and cavalry
which composed the ordinary garrison of Madrid,
were marched from the capital to Aranjuez, where
thecourt was then resident. AH things,.in short,
were already in a state of forwardness, when an
unexpected tumult frustrated at once the inten-
tions both of Godoy and the King.

Though - the greatest precautions had been
adopted. to keep secret the object of these prepa-
rations, it .waf? not possible to hinder a rumour of
the intended emigration from spreading abroad.
The Spaniards were deeply affiicted at the pros-
pect of being abandoned by their King; and as it
was understood that Ferdinand had expressed the
strongest aversion to the measure, the whole was
attributed to the selfish and wicked councils of the
Prince of the Peace. The consequence was, that
the hatred which had long been harboured towards
Godoy, now increased with tenfold violence; and
in this general feeling the soldiers fully partici-
pated with the multitude. To such a height, in-
deed, was this universal discontent carried, that

PENINSULAR WAH. 65

Charles found himselfunder the necessity of aban-
doning his design jand he issued a proclamation,
in which he as,sured his belovedsubjects that no
consideration whatever should ,induce him to
leave them. This appeared on the 16th, and on
the . 17th the preparations for departurewere
ágain renewed. But popular indignation was now
excited to its highest pitch. A mob hastening to
Aranjuez, found a cavalcade of carriages ready,to
proceed. They instantly cut the traces, andthén
turning their fury against Godoy, ran, in a tumul-
tuous manner, to assault his house. Of the sol-
diers whom he called in to his assistance, aH, ex-
cept his own body-guard, deserted him j and he
with difficultyescaped to a place of concea,lment
for the night.
- N ext day Ferdinal1d shoWed himself to the peo-
pIe, and the tumult was appeased. The .houses,
indeed, of Godoy, and of his nearest relatives and
most abject dependents, were levelled to the
ground; whilst he himself, dragged from his hi-
ding-place, was with difficu1ty conveyed toa
public pl'ison ; but this done, the mob immediately
returned to their duty. Charles, however, ha~
learned a lesson, such as he had no desire tÍ> Jearn
again. The burden of sovereignty, he said, had
become too heavy for him; aQd it was, in the
existing circumstances of the country, highly im- .
proper that an old and infirm man should endea;~;'

E. /%:>'t' \'OL. J.
I ó_

66 NARRATIVE OF THE

vour to bear it any longer. He therefore, of his
own free will, abdicated the throne, and named as
his successor his eldest and beloved son, Ferdi-
nand, prince of Asturias.

The joy of the people of Madrid, when this re-
solution was made known to them, is represented to
have known no bounds. AH ranks and degrees of
men partook in it. The houses were decorated du-
ringthe day with flowers and green boughs; and at
night, one vast illumination extended from sq uare
to square, and from street to street. Ferdinand
was hailed, wherever he appeared, as the' pre-
server of his country; and for the moment, at
least, both the advance of the French troops,and
the fears which their approach had so lately occa·
sioned, were forgotten. But this state of general
satisfaction was not destined to be of long conti:-
nuance.

It has be en stated that Ferdinand, instigated
perhaps by personal hatred towards Godoy as much
as byany other motive, aH along dec1ared him-
self friendly to the wishes of France; and the line
ofpolitics which'he had pursued whilst a subject,
he did not think it necessary to abandon after he
became a sovereign. Though aware of the ap-
proach of Murafs army, the first use which he
made of power, was to order 801ano's corps back
to its former quarters in Portugal; to countermand
the return of the divisions of Caraffa and Taranco;·

PENINSULAH. W A ¡lo 67

and to dismiss the whole body oftroops which late
events had drawn around the capital, to their
original stations. Madrid was thus left almost
without a garrison, and the very heart of the
kingdom laid open to the will of the Frencn
MarshaI.

In the mean while the Grand Duke of Berg
was leading his numerous armies, by columns of
brigades and divisions, towards Madrid. The
columns marched as through an enemy's country,
bivouacking every night, and taking all the pre-
cautions to secure themselves which are usually
taken in a .state of war, until they made them-
selves masters of the chain of mountains which
separate Old froID N ew Ca~tile. The officers in
eommand, likewise, having received instructions
to that effect, delayed the posts at all the stations.
and arrested su eh bodies of Spanish soldiers as
they anywhere met by the way; whilst they in-
dustriously gave out, at every town or village
through which they passed, that their final des-
tination was the camp of Saint Roche, before
Gibraltar.

Proceeding in this order, the advanced.,.guard
. reached Boytrajo, where intelligence of the late
commotions in the Spanish capital met them.
Murat instantly set forward. He took with him
only a numerous and brilliant staff, besides one
division of the imperial guard, and arrived just in

68 NARRATIYE OF THE

time to be an eye-witness of Ferdinand's trillm~
phal entry into Madrid. The spectacle was not
without its effect upon the mind of the French
Marshal. He saw that the feelings of the peopIe
were all in favour of their new prince; and he
probably anticipated, even then, the occurrence of
sorne such events as in a few days afterwards
carne to pass.

Beauharnois. filled, at this time, the office of
ambassadorto the court of Spain. It was but
natural that Ferdinand should appeaI both to him
and to the Ernperor's lieutenant for a recognítion
of his new title; but neither Beauharnois nor
Murat had received any instructions on the sub-
ject. No sooner, however, was a sufficient body
of French troops at hand, than both the one and
the other began to give evidence that their master.
was by no means prepared to view with a friendly
eye the revolution which had just occurred. Fer-
dinand was neither visited nor alluded to by them
under any other title than that of Prince of As-
turias. A correspondence in the country was
opened with his father and mother, whose per-
sonal safety was provided for by die substitution
of a French guard at Aranjuez, in lieu of the
Spanish troops which had hitherto done duty
there. These proceedings on the part of the
French . diplomatists could not but alarm Ferdi-
lland; but his alal'm was grievously augmented,

PENINSULAR WAlt. 69

when day after day passed by, and no answer
arrived to the letters whieh he had addressed to
N apoleon, informing him of the ehanges which
had placed him upon the thron,e of Spain. At
last it was eommunicated to him that the Em,.
peror in person was on his way to ,Madrid, for the
purpose of aetillg as an arbiter in the divisions
whiéh unhappily reigned within the bosom of his
family; and the eommunieation was aceomp~nied
by sug'gestions, a too ready compliance witlI which
broughí. matters to an issue.

The sword of Franeis 1, whieh had hung in the
.armoria real sinee the date of the battle of Pavia,
was demanded by Murat, in the name of the Em-
peror his master. Ferdinand was not sorry to
have found so good an opportunity of evincing his
deferenee to the wishes of the man on whose pro-
teetio,n he relied; and he gave up the weapon at
once, with a suitable compliment, to its new owner.
Then followed a recommendation that the Infant
Don Carlos, his brother, should proceed a few
days' journey towards the frontier, to meet the
Emperor. To that hint, likewise, the most prompt
attention was paid. But the next implied a
measure, of whieh even Ferdinand doubted the
wisdom; ana it required more than an. ordinary
degree ofpersuasion to ove reo me his reluetance to
its adoption. The ambassador B~auharnois repre-
sented that it would be particularIy agreeable to

70 NARRATIVE OF THB

his master, if Ferdinand would consent to go as
far as Burgos lo receive him. Ferdinand wavered
long, between the dictates of his hopes and his
fears; and it was only when the arrival of a new
actor on the stage turnoo the balancey that he gave
a reluctant consent. Assured by General Savary,
who professed to be little else than an avant cou-
rier to the Emperor, that N apoleon was actually
on the road ; that he had left him so near Bayonne
as to render his arrival at Burgos by this time
certain; and, that if Ferdinand entertained any
hopes of being recognised as King of Spain, he
must take care to give the most satisfaetory proofs
of his desire to obey the wishes of the man in
whose hands his destiny lay ;-assured of aH this,
he judged it imprudent any longer to hesitate;
and inspite of the remonstrances and entreaties of
his own most faithful counsellorsy the memorable
journey was determined upon. It began on the
10th of April, and it ended ón the 20th; leaving
this ill-fated prince a prisoner in Bayonne.

Previous to his departure, Ferdinand had ap-
pointed a supreme junta, to direet the affairs of
the nation during his absence; at the head of
which was his uncle, the Infant Don Antonio. He
was hardly gone~ when Murat addressed to this
body a requisition, that the Prinee of the Peace
should be set at liberty. The junta, afraid either
to refuse or grant the request, referred him to the

PENINSULAR WAR. 71

sovereign. Murat was indignant at the reply. He
threatened to force the prison, and to put the
troops who guarded it to the sword, in case they
should presume to offer any opposition to his will ;
and the junta felt that they possessed no means of
hindering that threat from being carried into exe-
cution. Godoy was given up to the French, and,
like his rival Ferdinand, conveyed to Bayonne.

The next removals which took place were of the
old sovereigns, whom it required no very urgent
entreaties, nor any depth of policy, to expatriate.
Charles had already protested against his abdica-
tion, as having been effected by compulsion; and
thrown himself upon the justice and honour of
Napoleon for redress. He was advised to seek
the Emperor himself, and to plead his cause be-
fore him in person; and he readily adopted the
suggestion. Charles and the Queen arrived at
Bayonne exactly ten days later than their son.

Of the extraordinary and disgraceful scenes
which followed these extraordinary movements,
it is not necessary in this place to enter into a par-
ticular account. The world will not readily forget
transactions which were marked by the most
shameless violation of all laws, human and divine,
in every individual who took a part in them. A
mother demanding the death of her own son, and
proclaiming her own infamy in hatred to her-child,
is a spectacle which has not often been presented

72 NARRATIVE OF 'l'HE

before the eyes of the public; nor has it frequently
be en called uPQn to witness duplicity carried to
the length to which it was carried by N apoleon
and his agents. Such things stand in no need of
being detailed frequently.

In the mean while, affairs were every day as-
suming a more alarming aspect in Spain. Though
there was not, as yet, open insurrection in any
quarter, cases of individual quarrels were very
frequent between the inhabitants and the French
soldiery; and no trifling q uantity of blood was
shed on the one side as well as on the other. The
French, no longer caring to coneeal that the claims
of Ferdinand would never be recognised by their
master, only provoked the Spaniards to indulge
the more frequently in cries of "Ferdinand for
ever!" till the adherents of that prince carne to re-
gard themselves, and to be regarded by others, as
the personal enemies of the intruders. To so great
lengths were these feelings earried at Toledo, that
a general commotion seemed at hand, and nothing
but the prompt arrival of Dupont, with a strong
division of troops from Aranjuez, preserved the
public tranquillity. But events were by this time
in rapid progress, which brought in their train
that universal opposition to French influence,
which no efforts were ever afterwards able to over-
come.

There remained iü Madrid, towards the end of

PENINSULAR WAR. 73

April, no other members of the royal fatnily, ex-
cept the Queen of Etruria, her children, her bro-
ther the lnfant Don Francisco de PauIo, and Don
Antonio, the head of regency;. and the Grand
Due of Bel'g received a letter from Charles IV,
desiring that they likewise should be forwiuded to
Bayonne. When this letter arrived, the people of
Madrid were in a state of the most violent excite-
ment, brought on by certain rumours of the pro'-
ceedings of the congress at Bayonne, which not
aU' the vigilance of N apoleon or his servants could
hinder from getting abroad. Men, women, and
children, might daily be seen in crowds about the
post-office, anxiously waiting for so me fresh intel:-
ligence; and ir the courier chanced, on any occa-
sion, to be delayed, the symptoms of dissatisfac-
tion exhibited on all sides were of the most appal-
lingkind. The inhabitants of Madrid were in this
frame of mind, when the determination of Murat
with respect to the Regent and his relatives ·was
cornmunicated to thern. The people protested
that Don Antonio should not be taken from them;
but in spite of these appearances the preparations
for his departure continued to go on.. lt was now
the 1st of May, and for the last two days no post
had arrived. On the 2nd, a similar reply met
those who again assembled at the post-office; whilst
it was rumoured that the royal carriages were
already harnessed, and that the princes were rre.-

74 NARHATIVE OF THE

paring to set out. The people ran to the palace,
cut the traces by which the horses were fastened,
and forced back the carriages into the stable-yard ;
and an aide-de-camp of Murat happening to pass
at the moment, they loaded him with insults and
execrations. The aide-de- camp resented this treat-
ment, and words were instantly followed by blows.
And now began a tragedy which Spain willlong
retain in her recollection, not onIy because of the
blood of her citizens which was shed, but because
of the results which sprang out of it, and the ar-
duous struggle of which it was the forerunner.
But this, like the transactions at Bayonne, is too
generalIy known to stand in need of minute rela-
tion. Jt is sufficient to observe that the firing
{!ontinued for nearly three hours, with considera-
ble slaughter on both sides; that it was not till
after the most strenuous exertions of the authori-
tíes, both Spanish and French, that order was re-
stored; and that it proved by no means the least
distressing thing to the people of Madrid, that a
combat which had aIread y cost thus dear, should
be followed by a multitude of indiscriminate mili-
tary executions.

The imlllediate effect of the operations of this
bloody day was tó strike with a momentary terror
the inmates of the 'capital; a sensation of which
the French failed not to make the most, by circu-
lating proclamations that spoke a language of

PENINSULAR WAR: 75

mingled threatening and conciliation. The Jnfant
Don Francisco departed, as soon as order was
restored, for Bayonne; and he was followed within
four-and-twenty hours by Don Antonio. The lat-
ter, indeed, voluntarily expressed a wish to share
the fortvnes oI tbe King .bjs nep.bew; beca use he
felt that, for the management of affair~ so perilous
as those which were around him, he was totally
unfitted. His departure was followed by the ad-
mission of the Grand Duke of Berg as a member
into the councíl of regency; and a few days after-
wards the same Grand Duke was, by a decree of
Charles IV, nominated to fill the office of presi-
dento

The news of the insurrection at Madrid reached
Bayonne, at a moment when the Emperor ap-
peared to be busily engaged in an attempt to
reconcile Ferdinand to his parents, and his parents
to him. He gladly availed himself of it, for the
purpose of precipitating the designs which he had
long ago formed. As might be expected, the
amount of lives sacrificed was magnified greatly,
as well by the terror of the Spaniards, as by the
policy of the French; and to these exaggerated
accounts N apoleon offered no contradiction. On
the contrary, he made ofthem a handle for loading
Ferdinand with maledictions. He accused him of
being the cause of all this bloodshed, and insisted
that he should instantly restore the crown to hfS

76 NARRA'l'lVE 01<' 'CHE

father, from whom he had impiously usurped it.
Ferainand, who at first had displayed sorne symp-
toms oC courage, sank at last under the invectives
of N apoleon. He not only obeyed the mandate,
but, in his capacity of Prince of Asturias, affixed
his signature to the deed by which Charles IV in his
own name, and in the name of his family, resigned
the sovereignty of Spain into the hands of the
Emperor of the French. A similar proceeding
was followed by the rest of the princes. They
gave up their rights for ever, and declared, in a
published document, that the Spanish nation could
not evince its affection for their race in a manller
more satisfactory, than by paying a ready obedience
to the sovereign, whoever he might be, that should
be appointed to succeed them.

Whether Ferdinand had foreseen the lengths to
which matters would be carried, or whether he
only expected to be detained for a time in cap-
tivity in Franee, does not appear; but imme-
diately previous to the grand catastrophe, he
wrote; and despatched by a trust y messenger, a
letter of instructions to the council of regency~
In it he declared that his actions ",ere no longer
free, and that it was impossible for him, situated
as he was, to atteJ1.d to the honour of the throne,
or the welfare of the country; He therefore
granted to the junta unlimited powers, permIttmg
it to remove whithersoever it would, and in his

PENINSULAR WAR. 77

name to exerciseall the authority of the sove-
reign. He recommended that a general cortes
should assemble ,,,ith as little delay as possible,
for the purpose of adopting su eh measures as
might appear most eondueive to the publie good;
and he positively required that the removal of his
person into the interior of France, should be the
signal for the commencement of hostilities. That
letter was conveyed by one who, for greater se-
curity, performed the bulk of his journey on foot.
It was faithfully delivered to the junta; but as it
reached its destination two days later than the
official account of Ferdinand's resignation, the
junta decreed that :they were not a~thorised in
paying' to it any obedienee. On the contrary,
they showed themselves to be the ready and
willing tools of the Emperor's lieutenant, who ae-
cordingly proeeeded to order all things in the
kingdom as he judged most conducive to his mas-
ter's interests.

The first and great object to be attained in his
view of affairs was, to seatter the Spanish army
so as to render it ineffeetive, and to seeure the
fidelity of the great and important cities of Ca~i~
and Valencia. For this purpose, the two Swiss regi-
ments eantoned near Madrid, were ineorporated
with the eorps of General Dupont; the body.
guards, with four battalions of Spanish and Wal-

78 NARRATlVE OF THE

loon guards, were placed under the orders of
Marshal Moncey; directions were given to pre-
pare an expedition of three thousand men, which
might embark without delay for Buenos Ayres;
and the Mediterranean fleet, at that time laid up
in Port Mahon, was required to proceed at once to
Toulon, for the purpose of joining the French squa-
dron. Many changes were likewise ordcred in the
different garrisons scattered through Catalonia and
elsewhere. General Solano, for example, was
enjoined to proceed 10 Cadiz, there to execute his
original functions as captain-general of Andalusia;
whilst the most strenuous exertions were made to
attach to the new order of things General Casta-
nos, whose situation as commandant of the camp
at San Roche, furnished him with powerful means
either of advancing or thwarting the views of the .
French Émperor. Nor were other andhardly
less important matters neglected. Every maga-
zine of arms and stores throughout the country-
every magazine at least which lay within their
reach,was seized and appropriated by tbe French
authorities. Preparations were made to fortify
and victual the heights of the Retiro~ that they
might serve as a citadel, to keep the inhabitants
of the capital in order; whilst a regular chain of
posts between it and the frontier was established.
N othing, in short. was left undone, which ap-

PENINSULAR WAR. 79

peared in the most remote degree calculated to
secure the ahsolute subjection of Spain; and it
was even hinted that, as 800n as that great end
should have been attained, other and equalIy
gigantic projects would be undertaken.

80 NARRATTVE Ol<' THE

CHAPTER IV.

Gf'neral insurrection of tIte Spanish provinces, and forroation of
juntas-The junta of Seville peculiarly vigorous alld or-
derly-It assumes tbe title of Supreme Junta of Spain and
the Indies-Reduction of the French Heet in the haroour of
Cadiz-Expeditions against Seville and V álencia under
Dupont and Moncey-Actions at Alcolia and Baylen, and
surrender of Dupont's corps-Moncey repulsed froro before
Valencia-Proceedings at Bayonne, and procIaroation of
King Joseph-He enters Spain-Battle of Medino del Rio·
Seco; and arrival of Joseph in Madrid-His flight in conse-
quence of Dupont's capture-A n expedition fitted out at
Cork sails for the Peninsula-Sir Arthur WelIesley arrives
at Cornnna, and directs his course towards Portugal-Pro-
ceedings in that country-Mutiny of the Spanish garrison of
Oporto-Seizure of General Quesnel, and the standard ofin-
dependence raised-Junot's mea¡¡ures to suppress the revolt.

1 T has been stated that the details of the event-
fuI 2nd of May reached Bayonne on the 10th;
they were not more tardy in making their way
through all parts of Spain; and the effect pro-
duced by them, from one end of the kingdol11 to

1'ENINSULAR WAR. 81

another, was the same. From the mountains of
Arragon to the pillars of Hercules, and from Va-
lencia to Cape Finisterre, t~ere arose one loud and
simultaneous shout, "Long live King Ferdinand-
Death to the French!" The people thought not of
the defenceless state of the country, its frontier
towns in the occupation of the enemy, its soldiers
dispersed, and its arsenals and treasures plun-
dered. They saw only the degradation to which
they were reduced; and they ran to arms with
the alacrity of men determined to regain their
freedom, or to perish.

Whilst in other provinces a general rising took
place, distinguished more by the zeal of those who
followed, than by the prudence of, its leaders,
a regular form of government, such at least as the
state of the times would admit of, was almost in-
stantaneously organized at Seville. On the very
dayafter the insurrection broke out, a junta con-
sisting of twenty-three members, chosen from the
principal men of the province, from the nobility,
the higher clergy, the general officers and me m-
bers of the .municipal body, met together, and
assumed the title of Junta, and Supreme Govern-
ment of Spain and the Indies. Acti:p.g in this
capacity, the Supreme Junta proceeded to give
directions, that in every town or village which
should contain two thousand householders, juntas
of six persons should be formed, whose business

VOL J. F

82 N ARRATIVE OF THE

it should be to enlist under the national standard
aH males between the ages of sixteen and forty-
five. Messengers were líkewise despatched to the
captain-general of Cadiz, to General Castanos,
commandant of the camps at San Roche; to the
eities of Cordova, Grenada, and Jaen; and to all
the towns and villages near, to acquaint them with
the resolution which had been formed of deliver-
ing Spain, and to entreat their best assistance in
so just a cause. Light vessels were fitted out and
sailed both for the Canaries and South America;
eommissioners has tened to AIgarves and Alentejo.
to request the co-operation of the Portuguese;
and war, an interminable war, was solemnly
declared against France and N apoleon. At the
same time, proclamations were circulated, inviting
aH· Italians, Germans, Poles, Swiss, andother fo-.
reigners, to abandon tbe French standard, and
promising tbem the best treatment in the event of
their taking service in the armies of Spain. In
a word, every thing was done promptIy, actively.
and vigorously, whilst the most perfect order was
preserved; and tbe new government showed itself
not unworthy of the style which it employed, and
which by the juntas it was permitted to employ.

Wherever the emissaries of the Supreme Junta
appeared, they failed not to stir up among the
people a spirit in. every respect accordant to that
which animated themselves. In Cadiz, the niul-

l'ENINSULAIt W AR. 83

titude rose upon Solano, whose attachment 1'0
Godoy and the French continued unabated; and
having dragged bim from tbe bouse ofMr. Strange,
an Irish banker, with whom he had taken shelter,
they put him to death in a manner the most igno-
minious and cruel. Similar scenes were acted in
different towns of Spain, whilst as yet the fervour
of patriotism was too violent to be guided by rea-
son; and not a few, both of Frenchmen and tbeir
adberents, fell a sacrifice to popular fury. But to
tbe bonour of Spain be it remembered, tbat sbe
had suffered long and grievously under her op-
pressors; and that tbose wbo feH the effects of
tbe first effervescence of her wrath, were tewer by
far in number, tban fell in one day under the re-
gulated fusilade of tbe Frencb garrison of Madrid.

It was, perhaps, a fortunate circumstance for
Spain, that the first great operations in which ber
patriot forces embarked, proved most of them suc-
cessfuL At Cadiz, a French fleet of five sail of
tbe line and three frigates, was compelled, after
a lengtbened cannonade, to surrender atdiscretion.
Two expeditions, simultaneously undertaken-one
under General Dupont, for the purpose of securing
the obedience of Andalusia; another under Marshal
Moncey, designed to establish the new govern-
ment in Valencia-were defeated; the latter with
the 10ss of a .large proportion, the former at the
expense of the wbole body of troops engaged in it.

84 NARRATIVE OF THE

As these were among the most brilliant services
performed by the Spaniards during the whole of
the war, and as they operated powerfullyupon its
results in other quarters, and in after campaigns, it
may not be ami ss to give a brief and conuected
sketch, both of the oue and the other.

N othing had as yet occurred to attract the at-
tention of the conquerors, beyond the murmurs
and complaints'which resounded from one end of
Spain to the other, when General Dupont, at the
head of six thousand infantry of the line, five
hundred marines of the imperial guard, two S\viss
regiments in the service of Spain, about three
thousand cavalry, and twenty-four pieces of can-
non, all well appointed and equipped, set out
from Toledo, where, for a month back, he had
established his head-quarters. He was directed
to rally under his standard as many Spanish troops
as he should chance to meet by the way; and he
was to be joined at Seville by a brigade of three
thousand men detached from the army ofPortugal.
General Dupont knew of no reason why he should
entertain a doubt of the final success of his enter-
prise: he was ignorant that he was about to enter
a country everywhere hostile to him; he there-
fore moved on WitilOut much circumspection, and
had no scruple about encumbering hiscolumns
with a long train of waggons and cars.

The road from Toledo to Cadiz, the extreme

PENINSULAR WAR. 85

point which Dupont had been. commanded to
reach, runs through the plains of La Mancha, over
the ridges of. the Sierra Morena. There is a
bridge upon the Guadalquivir at Andujar, which
the traveller passes, and then keeping close, to the
stream for a considerable distance, he recrosses
the same stream at Venta de Alcolia. Abont a
day's journey from this point lies the town of
Cordova, on the same side of the river as Andujar;
and at a sÍmilar distance from it, on the other
side, is the town of Jaen. Cordova is built upon
the direct road, as well as Cremona and Seville;
but as the French army never succeeded in pene-
trating beyond' the first of these places, it will not
be necessary to describe, with great minuteness,
the topography of the others.

Dupont traversed the plains, and reached the
vilIage of Carolina in the mountains, before any
symptoms of the kind of reception which awaited
him were exhibited. Carolina was almost en-
til'ely deserted; and from the reports üf the few
stragglers who still clung to their houses, it ap-
peared that the men had withdrawn with arms in
their hands. Dupont, however, contihued his
journey: he arrived at Andujar on the second
day; and there his doubts, if indeed he enter-
tained any, as to the accuracy of the report which
had been made to him, were dispelled. The
spirited resolutions of the junta of Seville were

86 NARHA'fIVE OF 'fHE

here made known to him; and he was given to
understand that his entrance into Cordova would
be disputed by the whole of the mal e population
of the province.

Startled, but not intimidated by this intelli-
gence, Dupont held his course; causing the sol-
diers to march with greater circumspection, and
covering his front and tlanks with skirmishers. He
crossed the Guadalquivir without opposition; but
as he approached Alcolia, the point where it be-
hoved him to cross again; he found it occupied in
considerable force by the Spaniards. A levy en
masse had . been formed, of which the command
was intrusted to Don Pedro Agostino de Echever-
ria, lieutenant-colonel, and president of the mili-
tary council of Cordova, for the suppression of
smuggling and other crimes in the Sietra Morena;
and supported by three or four thousand soldiers
of the line, it was now prepared to dispute with
Dupont's army the passage of the river.

The main body ofthe Spaniards was drawn up
along the right bank, so as to cover the bridge,
which they had neglected to break down; but a
considerable division, of which sorne part was
cavalry, remained .on the left bank for· the purpose
of taking the enemy in reverse. 1 t is hardly ne-
cessary to state that these dispositions, neither
justifiable in themselves, nor at all such as the
nature of the force employed might have sug-

PENINSULAR W AR. 87

gested, proved useless. The isolated corps twice
attempted to charge, but it was each time re-
pulsed with 10ss ;whilst the bridge and village
were . both carried at a rush, and the undisciplined
peasantry dispersed in every direction. Echever-
ria, however, rallied his regular troops as soon as
they had cleared the village, and began his retreat
in tolerable order; but the French cavalry speed,..
ily broke in upon them, and the rout became
general.

Dupont lost no time in following up the success
which he had obtained. He reached Cordova that
night; and finding the gates shut, and prepara-
tions apparentIy making for defence, he gave or-
ders that it should be carried by assault. These
orders were promptly obeyed. One round from
the artillery sufficed to burst the gates, and th.e
troops rushing in pell-mell, swept the streets with
a fire of musketry. This was,"perhaps, one of the
most wantonly cruel acts of violence committed
during the war; for the people offered no resis-
tance, only a few random shots having been fired
from sorne of the windows. But it was deemed
prudent, in the present condition of affairs, to
excite, as far as might be, the terror of the Spa;-
niards; and on this principIe Cordova was given
up to pillage.

Though he had so far succeeded in his under-
taking, Dupont was by no means disposed tú con-

88 N ARRA TIVE OF THE

sider his present situation as an enviable one.
Bands of armed peasantry soon began to gather
together, till they hemmed him in on every side ;
and such was their audacity, that it became im-
possible for individuals or even smaH parties to
stray to a moderate distance from the camp, with-
out running the risk of being killed or taken. On
endeavouring likewise to open a correspondence
with Madrid, he found that all means of communi-
cation between himself and that city were cut off.
1 t is true that his patrols of cavaIry, though pushed
as far as Carlota on the road to Seville, encoun-
tered no enemy; but rumours of numerous masses
in motion, of the advance of one corps from the
camp of San Roche, of another from Grenada, and
of a third already forming at Ecija, taught him
that one such victory as that of AlcoJia, was not
sufficient to secure the submission of a large and
populous province. Under these circumstances
he determined, at least for the present, to give up
aH idea of further conquest, and to establish him-
se1f at some point which should at once enable
him to re-open his communications with his rear,
and place him in a situation to renew, at his own
pleasure, offensive .operations.

With this view he evacuated Cordova at an
early hour on the morning of the 16th of June, and
reached Andujar without molestation on the 19th.
His next measure was to attempt the dispersion of

PENINSULAR WAR. 89

a band of armed peasants, who had assembled at
Jaen; and who, more than any others, pressed
upon his out-posts, and harassed his foraging par-
tieso The troops employed upon that service
found no great difficulty in accomplishing it; for
the insurgents were poorly organised, and gave
way as soon as attacked; but the conquerors went
much further than their chief intended them to go,
in punishing what they chose to designate as re-
bellion. General Dupont was desirous that the
town of Jaen should pay dearly for its patriotism;
but he was still more desirous that it should be
left uninjured as a place ofshelter, in case of need,
to his own army. The victorious detachment
committed in it the most horrible excesses, wan-
tonly destroying every morsel of food and every
cask of wine, which ought to have gone towards
the -sustenance of themselyes and their comrades.

Bythese movements Dupont so far bettered his
condition, that he was enabled to receive a strong
reinforcement under Generals Videl and Gobert,
and, to a certain extent, to re-open his communica-
tions with the capital; but he was still as far as
ever from being safe. The rumours which had
alarmed him whilst at Cordova were repeated,
with even greater semblance of truth, till he
reac~ed Andujar. It was soon ascertained that
levies were assembling in every direction around
him; and that, unless the passes of the Sierra Mo-

90 ~ARRATIVE OF THE

reria were occupied in force, he would be entirély
separated from every other corps of French troops
in the Peninsula. To occupy these passes, how-
ever, by detachments from his own army, was a
me asure upon which he was afraid to venture; he
considered himself barel y strong enough to main-
tain his present pqsition-to divide his strength
would be ruinous; but he despatched message
after message to Madrid, entreating that he might
not be abandoned, and stating, in the plainest lan-
guage, both the difficulties under which he then
Iaboured, and his apprehensions respecting the
future. Of these despatches a few only reached
the place of their destination, the remainder being
intercepted and carried to the Spanish generals ;
and as an opinion widely different from bis own
prevailed at head-quarters respecting the means
alreadyat his disposa1, no efforts were made to
comply with his wishes. It was, at the same
time, broadly hinted to him, that to abandon the
enterprise on which he had set out, would prove
extremely mischievous to the cause, and,as
a necessary consequence, bring down upon him-
self the displeasure of his master.

Dupont had acquired considerable reputation in
the wars of Italy and Germany, as a general of
division; but never acted before as commander-in-
chief of an army. Though the junction of Videl's
division increased the strength of his corps to full

PENINSULAR WAR. 91

sixteen thousand men, he persisted in keeping it
in a state of unaccountable inactivity. Ha:d he
moved at once either to the front or to the rear, it is
probable he would have carried.every thing before
him; for it was not till towards the middle of July,
that the junta of Seville succeeded in bringing to-
gether a force capable of opposing him; but he
was unwilling to advance' before a furthe;r rein-
forcement, for which he had applied to Marshal
J unot, should have come in; whilst to retreat,
would be to íncur the censure of which he had
been already forewarned, and of which he enter-

. tained at least an adequate degree of apprehen-
SlOn. He accordingly contented himself with the
destruction of the . bridges over the Guadalquivir,
and the erectionof a redoubt here and there along
its banks; whilst by occupying Baylen in his rear,.
ando keeping a garrison in the tete-du-pont at
Mengibar, he persuaded himself that his position
would be amply secured against any attempts
which the insurgents could make against i1:.

Whilst he was thus 'Yasting time, the Spanish
government strained every nerve for the purpose
of bringing into the field a force adequate, both by
its numbers and its discipline, to act on the offen-
sive. EarIy in July, about thirty thousand..men,
the greater part of w hom were old soldiers,
moved towards Andujar. They were commanded
by Castanos, who had been recalled for the pur-

92 NARRATIVE OF THE

pose from the camp at San Roche; and they num-
bered among their generals of division two of the
most distinguished officers in the Spanish service,"
General Reding and the Marquis de la Coupigny.
Part of this force encountered at Jaen a French
brigade under General Cassagne, which had pro-
ceeded thither as a sort of advanced-guard from
the main army, and after a sanguinary conflict,
compelled it to retire. A position was next taken
up within cannon-shot of Dupont's lines; and
there a plan was ente red into, of which the success
proved to be even more complete than the most
sanguine could have possibly anticipated.

It was agreed that Castanos with one division
should temain where he was, to keep the attention
of Dupont, as far as might be practicable, fixed
upon a single point. In the mean while General
Reding, at the head of eight thousand men, was to
force the tete-du-pont at Mengibar, to march upon
Baylen, and attack the enemy there; and he was
to be supported by the Marquis de la Coupigny,
who, from La Heguerita and Villaneuva, -was to
straighten the left of the French army; whilst a
corps of two thousand men, under Don Juan de la
Cruz, was to push for the Sierra Morena, and
block up every line of retreat in that direction.

The plan was carried into execution on the 16th
of July. Reding assaulted and reduced the re-
doubt at Mengibar, crossed the Guadalquivir, and

PENINSULAR WAR. 93

drove in the French posts upon Baylen; but find-
ing that Coupigny had not come up, he fell back
again after dark, and repassed the river. As soon
as Baylen 'was known to be in danger, General
Videl, with six thousand men, hastened to cover
it. He arrived there that night, but he found in
it neither friend nor foe; because the Spaniards
had already executed their retrograde movement,
and General Dufour, who on the fall of Gohert suc-
ceeded to the command of the French, had evacu-
ated the place as no longer tenahle. Videl was
naturally a good deal alarmed at this; and his
alarm hecame greatIy increased when it was re-
ported to him that the sound of firing had been
heard in the direction of the Sierra Morena.
He made up his mind in a moment that Dufour
had be en driven back upon Carolina, and that,
unless he hastened to support him, the retreat
upon Madrid would he entirely cut off. Under
this persuasion he lost no time in despatching a
messenger to Dupont, informing him of what he
meant to do, and then proceeded, without allowing
his troops a moment to rest, in search of Dufour.

General Vid el reached Carolina on the 17th;
and on the same day Reding and Coupigny hav-
ing formed their junction, returned to Baylen.
They took peaceable possession of it, and instantly
sending to make Castanos aware of their success,
desired to be instructedas to their future move..,

94 NARRATIVE OF THE

ments. They were ordered to march forthwith
upon Andujar, against which the united efforts of
the whole Spanish army were now about to be
turned.

The troops had hardly taken their stations on
the morning of the 19th, preparatory to this move-
ment, when they found themselves in presence of
the advanced-guard of Dupont's corps, which was
now in full retreat towards the Sierra Morena.
The arrival of Videl's despatch had at length
opened the eyes of the French General to the real
perils of his situation. He saw that the póint
from which he had hitherto apprehended an attack,
was, comparatively speaking, one of slight impor-
tance, and that it was from the rear that danger,
if it came at all, was to be apprehended; and he
reluctantly determined to abandon Andujar, and
to retreat as fir at least as La Carolina, from
whence other operations could at his leisure be
undertaken, either offensively or defensively, as
circumstances might point out.

With this design he moved from the town soon
after night-fall on the 18th; but as he carried
alon~ with him vast multitudes of carriages and
waggons, his march was necessarily rendered both
slow andstraggling. Though the head of his co-
lumn quitted its ground aboutten o'clock, dawn
was beginning to appear before the last sections
moved off; and when the momerit of trial carne,

PENINSULAR W AR. 95

the former were found to be at the distance of
nearly three leagues from the latter. It was well
for the Spaniards under Reding, that Dupont had
deemed it expedient to bestow so much care upon
the preservation of his plunder. Had the French
moved in compact order, so as to bring the whole
of their force into action at once, their enemies,
however brave and resolute, could have hardly
withstood the shock; for there was no great dis-
parity in point of numbers between them, andthe
advantages of discipline and experience were aH
in favour of the French; but this they were not
able to effect. On the contrary, regiment after
regiment, and gun after gun, were hurried into fire
as fast as they carne up; the French fought as an
army always fights which is taken in detail; and
one part was utterly and irretrievably destroyed
before another could render it the smal1est as-
sistance.

It might be about three o'c1ock on the morning
of the 19th, when the scouts of the French army
suddenly feIl in with the advance of General Re-
ding's corps. By neither party was thé meeting
anticipated; but both sides made every disposi-
tion which their relative situation and the exigen-
ces of the moment seemed to require •. Dupont
felt that, unless he made good his passage at once
through the force opposed to him, his rear would
he assailed by Castanos; and he therefore directed

96 NARRATIVE 01< THE

the leading division to charge the Spaniards, with-·
out waiting for the arrival of their comrades. The
attack was bravely made, but it was no less bravely
resisted; and the affair, after a warm and deter-
mined struggle, ended in thé repulse of the assail-
ants on aH points. Very shortly, fresh troops ar-
rived, inc1uding a battalion of the marines of the
imperial guard, who renewed the contest with the
utmost gallantry; but neither their numbers nor
their pbysical strengh, worn down by a night-
march, and still further diminished by the rapidity
of their advance to the front, were competent to
carry them successfully through. The Spaniards
were superior to them in every respect, in num-
bers, in position, and in the quantity and weight
of their cannon; and though the French performed
prodigies of valour, they were foiled in every effort.
At last it was felt by all the officers present that
their case was a hopeless one; and just as Casta-
nos arrived upon their rear, and Don Juan de la
Cruz took his ground upon their flank, it was de-
termined to request a suspension of arms. The
request was immediately complied with. In spite
of the arrival of General Videl's corps, which, as
soon as the firing was heard, had hastened from
Carolina to the assistance of their comrades, the
negociation continued; and it ended in the sur-
render of the whole French army, to the amount
of fourteen thousand men, as prisoners of war.

I'ENINSU'LAR WA'R. 97

The entire course of the Spanish campaigns
produced novictory so decisive, or so ,influential
in its con sequen ces, as this. Not only was An-
dalusia freed frOln the presence -of the enemy, but
a degree of confidence was communicated to the
patriots in other quarters, such as they had not
previously experienced; and many an individual,
who up t~ that moment had wavered between his
duty and his interests, ceased to waver any
longer. At ,Madrid, again, the newsof the vic-
tory produced a verypowerfuleffect, as well upon
the French as upon the patriot party. The latter,
who for some time backh-ad dissembled their
sentiments, began again to give them vent in na-
tional cries and acts of petty disturban ce ; whilst
the former exhibited the líveliest symptoms of
alarrn, lest the conquerors 'should follow up thar
success by marching at once upon thecapital.
At this time Joseph Napoleon was resid,ent in the
eity; he had entered it only two days previously,
and had scarcely begun to exereÍse the functions
of royalty, when. the intelligence carne \1pon him
like a thunderb01t; and ,though eom:;cious of the
evils which' must necessarily attend the step, he

. determined t@ retire for thepresent upon hi8 re-
sources. He quitted Madrid on the 3Jst, and
issulng orders that all his scattered divisions'
should follow him, that the siege ,o{ Saragoza,

. then in progress, should he raised~ and further
VOL. J~

98 NARRATIVE OF THE

attempts upon Valencia abandoned, he fell back,
with the utmostprecipitation, beyond the Ebro.

In the mean while the expedition against Va.,.
leneia was conducted by Marshal Moncey under
circumstances not very dissimilar to those which
attended the progress of Dupont's operations.
When he quitted Madrid on the 4th of lune,
Moncey was indeed aware that his object was
not likely to be accomplished without opposition;
and he took his measures, as an able officer might
be expected to do when setting out upon an un-
dertaking of doubtfulissue. The force which im-
mediately followed his own, amounted to sorne
eight or nine thousand men of all arms; there
were in quarters,along his line of march, two
battalions of Spanish and Walloon guards, and
three companies of the king's body-gUards, whom
he ordered to join him; and he requested, and
obtained a promise, that General Chabran's divi-
sion, which consisted of five thousand men, and
which was then stationed at Barcelona, should be
erdered round to Tortosa, and placed at his dis-
posal. With sueh a force he naturally concluded
that any resistance 'Y hich an armed peasantry
€ould offer, would. be easily overcome; and per-
haps, had the whole of the force assembled undet
his standard, these expectations would not have
proved groundless.·

Moncey reached Cuenca on the . 11th, where>

l'E"NINSULA R W A R. 99

instead of a strong brigade of Spanish troops, 'he
found only the skeletons of a few companies, the
rest having deserted to join ,the cause of the in-
surgents. He was; as might be expected, both
alarmed and disappointed at the event; and he
wrote instantly to Madrid, to request that a
column might move from that place upon Albacete,
in order to cover his right. N ot satisfied with
this, he despatched an aide-de-camp to General
Chabran, to request that he would'instantly proceed
to Castellar de la Plana, that he would there take
under his orders the corps of General Requena,
and hurry forward to reinforce his own corps. This
done, he halted for eight days, not more to collect
his own resources, than to enable his messengers
to reach their several points of destination; aod
thenhe renewed his march, which was conducted
throughout with the utmostcaution and circlim-
spection.

Theinsurrection at Valencia had been attended
by ciréumstances of fearful crue1ty, hundreds oC
innoeent French inhabitants falling a sacrifice tJ
the fury of tbe mOD. 'But it wa-s not in this casé
as in most others, that they who exhibit the
greatest ferocity against people uilable to defend
themselves, are the fitst to turn their backs,upen
danger. The Valencians entered zealously irito
the national cause; insomuch tlíat, not content to
await the approach of the Prehch, they marched

100 N ARRATIVE.0.F TUE

forwarq to meet them. The first encounter took
place at the bridge of Pajazo over the Cabriel, and
it ended, as might have been antiéipated, in the
defeat of the patriots. A second stand was. made
among the mountains, in the gorge of the principal
defile between Siete Aguas and Venta de Bunol.
This position was occupied by two thousand regu-
lar infantry, six or seven thousand armed peasants;
and twelve pieces of cannon; who did not give
way without offering a resolute and lengthened
resistance; nor was it till after he had a third
time beaten his enemies in the field, that Marshal
Moncey found himself in a situation to summon
Valencia. Bu! his summons was disregarded.
Thepeople were determined to bury themselves
';1nder the ruins' of their city; and it consequently
Decame' necessary to carry the place by assault. '
, Valencia contained, at that time, a population

little short of one hundred thousand souIs. It
was ,surrounded by a low stone wall, well flanked
by towers and angles, and covered with a ditch,
into which, fromacanal hanL 'Qy. water couldat
any moment be admitted. There was an arsenal
in it filled with muskets, swords, and other wea-
pons; and there were a considerable number of
heavy cannon mounted upon the. ramparts. The
easy rate at which Moncey had advanced, enabled
the authorities to turn these advantages to a good
account; and when' theFrench appeared,' the

PENINSULAR WAR. 101

city was in aÍl excellent condition to receive arid
repelan assault. Of aH this the French were, oí
course, ignorant; and expeéting that no serious
ópposition would be attempted, they advanced, at
three o'cIock in the afterÍloon of the 28th, in
columns of attack.

The Spaniards were now in that sítuation which
they have invariably shown themselves best calcu-
lated to tm. Coveredby their walls, and amply
supplied with ammuriition, they poured upon the
assailants an incessant and heavy shower ofmusket
and cannon balls, which swept down whole com~
panies of rilen, and disabled the few light pieces'
which were opposed to it. The French dashed
boldly up to the edge of the ditch; some of them
even forced their way within the gates; butthe
fire was so tremendous, and the obstacles th,rown
in their way so insurmoun"table, that their disci-
pliried valour availed them nothing. Having kept
their ground, under shelter of the houses in the"
suburbs, till dark, they fell back to their camp,
leaving behind them upwards of two thousand men,
in killed, wounded, and missing.

The result of this day's operations was sufficient
to convince Marshal Moncey that any further
attempts, with his present force, upon Valencia,
would end only in his own destruction. He ac-
cordingly determined on a retreat; which, after
having manreuvl'ed during the 29th so as to keep

102 NARUATIVE OF THE

the Spaniards in doubt as to his inteniions, Ile
caTried, on the 30th, into effect. lt was high time
for him to. adopt this measure. Several corps,
composed partIy of regular troops, partly of .armed
peasantry, were forming in his rear; nor was it
tiU he had overthrown sorne of these, first on the
han ks of the Xucar, and afterwards in the vicinity
ofAlmanza, that he made good his entrance inta
Albacéte.

N ot less gratifying· to the friends of freedom was
the defence which, much about the same time, th.e
eity of Saragoza offered to the attempts of General
Le Febvre ;and ha,d tt not beeu for the fatal dis-
eomfiture at Medina del Rio Seco, the Spaniards
would have had no cause to speak with regret oí
the issues of theÍr first campaign. But that defeat
was asevere hlowupon the patriot cause; not
only because it opened 3; way to Madrid to the
sovereign whom Buonaparte had appointed, but
because it contributed to prevent a British army
from appearing in the field at a moment ahd
uuder eircumstanees whieh would have rendered
. its appearance peculiarly fortunate. It will be
nccessary, however, before enteriJilg at all inta the
narrative of that battle, to give, in few words,. an
abstract of the transactions which, both iu Eng-
]und and at Bayonne,. wel'e going on with reference
to the mighty con test.

The Spaniards had no 800ner raised the standard

PENINSULAR W AR. 103

of independence, than they felt the necessity of
applying to England for aid. The first deputies
who arrived for that purpose,. were desp(i.tched by
the. principality of the Asturias; and they-were
followed by a successíon of envoys from other
provinces, including -that of Seville, where the
Supreme Junta had established itself. Their re-
ception was such as the nature of the business on
w hich they came, and the disposition of the people
to whom they weresuitors, might have authorised
them to expect. AH ranks and classes of men
appeared eager to evince their respect for the
representatives of a nation engaged in a struggle,
sacred, in the eyes of Englishmen, as the object
which it sought to attain; and not the government
only, but corporate bodies and private individuals,
made haste to mark the sense which they enter-
tainéd of the gallantry and devotion already dis-.
played in the contesto

Subscriptions were opened in most of the large
towns in the kingdom, from which considerable
sums were realised, and applied to the service
oí the patriots. AH the Spanish prisoners taken
during the late war were set at liberty; and
being armed, clothed, and equipped, they were
transported to their native shores, that they might
assist in the great work of liberating their count~y.
Nor did the efforts of Great Britain end there.

104 NARRATIVJ:<: OF 'l'HE

"Large quantities of inuskéts, of cannon;balls, -p6w-
der, and othe}; military stores, were- conveyed to
different ports of the Peninsula, for the purpose oí
at:m'ing a population which professed to stand in
need only of arms to instue success; whilst the
admirals on the station, as well as the Governor of
Gibraltar, received orders to comrnunicate with
the Spanish autlÍorities as often as need be, and tó
lend every assistance which the latter might re-
quire,. or the former might be able to afford.

The Spanish deputies, acting in accordance with
their instructions,.. had taken care to assure the
British. government that Spain required no troops
trpm this country> because every Spálliard capable
9f wielding a musket was anxious" to take the field
against the invaders. N otwithstanding these de-
clarations, the British government was too much
alive to the important results which hung upon the
issues of the struggle, to leavethe maintenance of
it altogether to the undisciplined valor of the
patriots; it determined to support them with an
army ofBEitish soldiers;and it resolvedthat the
force employed $hould be such as, without alarm-
ing the jealousy or wounding the pride of the pa-
triots, IDight constitute an efficient nucleus round
which larger armies might gather.

The first British force which showed itself UpOIl--
t)le theatre of war; consiBted of a small diviBion óf

PENINSULAR WAR. 105

infantry and artillery, detached, rinder the ordeÍ's
ofMajor-g.eneraISpencer, from the fortress of
Gibraltar.

It has been stated that the authorities at horne;
as soon as they were made aware of the state of
public feeling in the nations of the Peninsula,
issued orders for the cordial co-operation of the
governor of that place, as well as the British ad~
mirals on the station, in any movernents against
the French force s which might hold out.a P!o"spéct
of success. Neithel' Admiral Collingwood, how-
ever, nor Sir Hew Dalrymple, had judged it ne-
cessary to wait the arrival of these orders. From
the first cornmencement of disturbances iti the
province of Seville, a constant intercourse had
been kept up by both, with the chiefs and leaders
of the Spanish mSllrgents; and as soon as the
disposition rnanifested on the part of thé people
of Cadiz became known, an armament both of
ships and troops was prepared to support it.
Major-general Spencer, with several English and
two Sicilian regirnents, arnounting in aH.to about
five thousand men, embarked on, board of a fleet
of transports, and covered 'by the squadron of Lord
Collingwood, set sail for Cadiz. The jointpropo..;
sal of these officers to assist in the subjúgation of
the French Heet was indeed declined, the Spa-
niards being confident in their (>wn resources, and
perhaps entertaining sorne apprehension· lest the

106 NARRATIVE OE THE

views of the allies might extendfurther than to the
aid proposed; but General Morla gladly av~iled
himself of the presence of the British corps to
cover the rear of Castanos's 'army, and to secure it
against any attack from the side of Alentejo, whilst
prosecuting the plan of operations on which it had
embarked. General Spencer accordingly landed
his division at Ayamonte, on the Guadiana. By
this movement he caused certain reinforcements,
which pupont had earnestly requested froro Junot,
and which had begun their march for the pur-
pose of joining him, to fall back with precipi-
tation upoQ Lisbon; and. though he steadily re-
fu sed to' commit himselfwith the Spanish columns,
which were gradualIy enclosing the French troops
at Baylen, he nevertheless gave aH the additional
vigour to theircouncils, which arose froro the'
knowledge that, in case of any reverse, there was
a point behind them on which they could safe)y
faH back.

Whilst the naval and military commanders in
the Mediterranean were thus exerting themselves,
an effort was made in the north, and made with
the most complete success, to restore to the ser-
vice of his country one of the ablest officers of
which Spain could at that time boast.One oí
Buonaparte's first measures, when meditating the
subjugation ofthe Peninsula, was to demand from
S pain a corps of sixteen thousand veteran troops,

PEN~NSULAR W AR. 107

whom, under the Marquess de la Romana, he em-
ployed for a time upon the banks of the Vistula,
and 'afterwards removed to tbe shores of the Great
Belt; They were distributed at different points in
that district, when the standard of independence
was raised; and one of tbe earliest rneasures of
the Supreme Junta was to issue a proclamation,
calling upon them, in the name of their country,.
to return to its defence. This was necessarily
consigned to the care of the British cruisers'; and
it was not given to thern in vain. A scherne for its
delivery, as well as for the removal of the soldiers,.
should they, as it was believed they would, desire
to cornply with its terms, was immediately devised
in London ; and the execution of it was committed
to Vice-admiral Keats,. an officer· well worthy of
t\le trust. lt succeeded to admiration; and seven
tho1J$3.nd ,men, with Romana at their head,wert}
transferred from the ranks of the enemy, and
éldded, at a moment of peculiar interest, to those-
oí the patriot army.

It wasnot, however, by such assistance alone,.
that the cause of Spain and of Europe could be;
effectually forwarded ; and to such a$sÍsta,nce. the
Britü;h government was not disposed to limit itself.
The wÜldom, or rather the necessity under which
England lay, of striking a great blow, now that the-
very field of action which she had so long desired
was opened to her, could not escape the penetra-

108 NARRA TIVE OF THE

tion of the most obtuse-minded; and preparations-
begari to be made for carrying on hostilities by
land, on a"scale which had never beforebeen at-
témpted since the commericement of tbe war.

lri tbe eiuly part óf the summer, and before any
expectation had arisen of the events which after-
wards occurred, a corps of nine thousand men had
assembled at Cork, under the orders of Lieutenant-
ge"neral Sir Arthmi Wellesley. Of General Wel-
lesley' s ear]y services, and of the reputation which
he had already earned fo"r himself, it is not neces':
sary in this place to take any notice. It is suffi-
cient to observe that there was not an officer in the
ármy, to whom both the profession and the nation
at large would have more readily intrusted the"
~om!lland of a force which required courage of the
highest order, and ability in the most extensive
sen se of the tern:, in its direction; and that his
past conduct, both in Europe and in India," fully
justified all classes in the opinion which they had
formed; whilst his nomination and selection im..,
mortalised the judgment ofthat minister whó laid
his name before the King for~ tlle cornmand.
With what view the corps in question began to
concentrate itself, was not, at the moment, accu-
rately known. By some, an attack upon" Cuba
was spoken of as in meditation; by others, a fresh-
attempt upon Buenos Ayres was represented as
more probable; but whatever the object might

PENINSU LA R W A R. 109

be which the armament was originalIy intended to
serve, of that object the recént events in Spain
caused an immediate abandonlI1ent. General
Wellesley was directed t{) proeeed without 'delay
to the assistanee of England's new ally; and as the
northern provinces held out, in m~ny respects, the
greatest facilities for a British force to aet with ~f­
fect, the port of Corunna was specified as a conve-
niElOt point from which to commence his opera-
tions.

In the mean while, N apoleon was following up,
with all the vigour of mind which so peculiarly
distinguished him, the first steps which he had
taken towards the, establishment of a princeof his
own blood upon the throne of Spain. The abdi-
cation of Charles IV, and the résignation of the
rights' of his family, weré speedily proclaimed to
Spain, and to the world; and it was further ao-
nounced that the Emperor, anxious to iusure the
glory and integrity of the Spanish monarchy, had
determined to waive his own pretensions in favoÜi.
of Joseph. King of Naples. But Napoleon was
desirous. not only that his, brother should reig'n,
but that he should have the appearance of reigúirig"
over a free aÍld a conteRted people; and the cortes
w'as, in consequence, invited to assemble. for the
purpose of framing a constitution which might
mSure to lhe Spaniards the' blessing' of just laws

110 NARRATIVE OF THE

and an equitable administration of thero, among all
ranks and classes of meno

The proeeedings of the body which, under the
appellation of an Assembly of Notables, met toge-
tUer' in obedienee to the summons of Buonaparte,
have been so often laid before the poblie, that to

. repeat them here would be to waste time for very
little putpose. Let it suffice to state that, towards
the éndof May, and during the first days of June,
there arrived in Bayonne upwards of ninety per-
sons, all that eould be eollected together out of
ane hundred and sixty who had been deputed;
that they were, with few exeeptions, men distin-
guished for their rank, their talents, or for the
stake whieh they held in the eountry; and that,

. llfter many moek sittings and delibel'ations, they
aeeepted Joseph as their sovereign, and dtew up
the charter whiehwas to form the basis of his sys-
tem of government. This done, Joseph was pro-
claimed King of Spain and the lndies in due formo
He nominated his ministers, appointing tooffiee
110t only those Upon whose fidelity 11e felt that he
might depend,but· many' oIi whose aequiescenee
in the new arrangements he tiad no right to caI-
eulate, but whom he trusted, by this show~ of
clemency and eonsideration to gain over to his
party; and on the 10th of JuIy, surrounded by the
members of his eouneil, he passed the Bidassoa.

PENINSULAR WAR. 111

At the moment when Joseph. eommenced his
journey towards Madrid, the' armies of Marshal
Bessieres on the one hand, andofCuesta and Blake
on the other, were executing that series of move-
ments and manreuvres which ended in the dis-
astrous battIe of Medina del Río SeGo. For some
time previous, the northern provinces of Spain
had been the scene of numerous skirmishes and
encounters, to enter into arninute detail of which
would be altogether foreign to the design of the
present work. In the course of these, the usual
quantity of enormities were comrnitted on both
sides. As' often as a fewstragglers frorn the
French army, or the French inhabitants of a
Spanish town, feH into the hands of an enraged
peasantry, they were put to death with circum-
stances of peculiar cruelty.; whilst tbe French
failed' not to avenge these excesses, by giving up
to plunder, and levelling with tbe ground, every
town or village which ventured to oppose their
progress. On the Iatter principIe, because a few
hundred half-armed men presumed to defend it,
Logrono' was severely visited; Torquemada was
destroyed; and Palencia escaped a similar fate,
only by.tbe haste of its dignitaries in giving 1ft
their submission. The focus of the insurrection,
however, was kno",n to be Valladolid, a city
which contained upwards of twenty-five thousand
inhabitants; and .against it Bessieres, whose head-

112 NARRATIVE al' TH'E

quarters were established at Burgos, gave orders
that an expedition sftould be fOl'med,

Don Gregorio de la Cuesta, an old, brave, but
headstrong officer,commanded, at this time, an
assemblage of undisciplined peasantry, with whom
he seemed determined to make a stand in defence
of Valladolid, He was one of those who, at the
commencement of the troubles, not only gave no
éncouragenient to the feelings of the people, but
exerted himself to allay them ; eitber pecause he
was satisfied that successful resistan ce would be
impracticable, or that in the changes which a re-
volution could not fail to bring about, many sub-
stantial benefits would accrue to the nation ¡¡.t
large. As soon, bowever, as he became satisfied
that it was the nation which had risen in. arms, he
hasteried to make amends fol' his former back-
~ardness, a,nd entered heartily into the cause,
which he now regarded as thatof his country. It
was somewhat remarkable that Cuesta was among
the number of those who held office both under
Ferdinand and under Joseph. By the former he
had been appointed captain-general of Castile and
Leon, an authority which he actually exercised;
whilst by the lattel' hewas nominated to the vice-
royalty of Mexieo, at the very moment w,hen his
~ettel' judgment led him to draw the sword against
the power which desired to promote him.

General Cuesta, with bis half-armed rabble.

PEKINSULAR WAR. ]13

took up a position at Cabezon, about two leagues
from Valladolid. He was attacked there on the
12th of JUlle by two divisions of the Frencharmy,
011e under General Lassalle, the' other under Ge-
neral MerIe; and after a short but warm con test,
was dislodged and overthrown, with the loss of an
his cannon, and nearly one thousand meno The
immediate consequences of this victory were, not
only the submission of Valladolid to the conque-
rors, but the occupation of Santander; the latter
being a place of which they were peculiarly jea-
IDus, because of its excellent harbour. But
Cuesta,thóugh defeated, was far from heing dis-
couraged. He withdrew with the remains of his
force to Benevente; where he employed himself
in raising new levies, and in giving sorne appear~
ance of organisation to tllose which were already
enroI¡ed under his standard.

It was not long before intelligence reached
Bessieres, not only that Cuesta's troops were re-
assembling, but that a considerable army which
had been formed under Blake, in the province of
Gallicia, was about to advance against him. Bes.;.
sieres issued orders for the concentration of an his
forces at Palencia, with the exception of three
battalions, which were left to protect Santander,
and a like number af Vittoriá, to keep open the
communication with France. . He himself, like-
wise, prepared to take the field; and having

VOL. l. H

114 NARRATIYE OF 'CHE

learned that Cuesta and Blake were actua11y in
conjunction, and that they had taken up a posi-
tion at Medina del Rio Seco, he set out, on the
13th of July, for· the purpose of bringing them to
action.

The battle of Medina del Río Seco was fought
on tbe 14th of July. It ended, as the reader
knows, in the utter rout of the Spaniards; over
whom, however, the victory was not won, till all
the energies of the conquerors had be en brought
into play, and a heavy 1088 sustained, in killed and
wounded, on both sides. Tbe Spaniards appear,
even by the confession of their enem}es, to have
fought well on, tbat day; and their defeat may be .
attributed, rather to a want of judgment in their
1eaders, than to any absence of courage among the
troops. Yet were the issues of the struggle of
the most disastrous nature. Fifteen pieces of
cannon, and upwards of six thousand men, were
1eft upon the fie1d; wbilst the road was coro-
plete1y laid open to the invaders as far as the capital.
But even these, though heavy calamities, were not
a11 which may be traced back to the defeat at Rio
Seco. It was at this unlucky moment that the
British army, destined to support the patriot cause,
set sail froro the harbour of Cork; and its General
reached Corunna only in time to be told that there
was no longer a fleld fol' its operations in the north
of Spain.

PENINSULAR WAlt. 11;

The army in q uestion having completed its ar
rangements, put to sea on the 12th of July. Afte
continuing with the fleet only a few hours, Si
Arthur Wellesley, who was embarked in a fast
sailing frigate, hastened on, and arrived at Co·
runna on the 20th. He lost no time in opening !
correspondence wíth the junta of Gallicia, fron
whom he reeeived the distressing intelligence o
the overthrow of their army; and by whom hf
was assured that, the enemy being now in pos·
session of the course of the' Douro, all communica·
tion between that provine e and those to thE:
south and east, was cut off. There is reason te
believe that in this dilemma, and because the~
still persisted in believing that Spain stood in n<J
need of men, but of arms and money only, they
recommended to him the propriety of effeeting a
debarkation somewhere in Portugal, and aeting in
conjunction with the insurgents there against the
corps of Marshal Junot; and as the advice ac-
corded perfectIy with the tenor of his instructions j
as well perhaps as with his own views, Sir Arthur
prepared to adopt it. Having supplied the Galli·
cians with 200,000l. in money, and assured thero
of the speedyarrival of a large quantity of military
stores, he once more put to sea; and directing hi~
own fleet to follow him thither, made at once fOl
the harbour of Oporto.

Of the polítical condition in which Portugal

116 NARRATIVE OF THE

then stood, a few words will suffice to convey to
the mind of the readei- a tolerably accurate idea.
The discontent which has been represented in a
former'chapter, as prevailing among aH ranks of
men, increased in violence every day, till it be-
carne manifest to every observer that a general
insurrection was at hand. It was not, however,
till the whole of Spain was in arms, nor indeed
till the Spanishtroops which accompanied Junot's
army had set them the example, thatthe Portu-
gu~se ventured to raise the standard ofrevolt; but
when it was raised, the same spirit of persevérance
-the same determination to live or die in free-
dorri, which was already in the full exercise of its
energies among their neighbours, appeared every-
where to animate them.

N otwithstanding the numerous .private quarrels
which arose in parts of the kingdom, and the' occa-
sional bursts of hatred against the intruders which
from time to time showed themselves both in the
capital and elsewhere, J unot persisted in repre-
seriting-perhaps in believing-that the Portu-
guese were brought completely into subjection,
till the delusion became suddenly dispelled ina
manner which w~s far from being satisfactory.
In the' month of June two detachments, to consist
of four thousand men each, were demanded from
the army of Portugal; one for the purpose of
supporting Bessieres by the occupation of Ciudad

PENINSULAlt W AR. 117

Rodrigo; the other to co-op~rate with Dupont in
taking possession of Andalúsia. The first of these,
under Loison, having advanced as far as Rodrigo,
and finding the whole country in arms, and the
gates of the place shut, suspended its operations,
and fell back; the second under Avril, was not
more fortunate in its undertakings. Badajoz had
declared for King Ferdinand; the whole of the
frontier was in arms; and the Spaniards and Por-
tuguese, ofwhom a considerable number were at~
tached to his division, deserted by ",hole compa-
nies. Besides, General Spencer, with his five
thousand English, lay between him and the point
which he had been ordered to reach, and General
Avril abandoned his enterprise. Bufsuch misfor-
tunes were trifling when compared to others which
shortIy followed.

N () great while ehipsed before the agents of the
Supreme Junta found means to communicate both
to the Spanish corps, which, Ululer Quesnel, occu-
pied Oporto, and to Caraffa'sdivision in Lisbon,
the course which events had taken both at Ba-
yonne and Madrid. The intelligence was received
by the troops with the utmost indignation. In
Oporto, they rose at once upon the General; ar-
rested him with his staff and his escort; and hav-
ing given up the city into the hands of the munici-
pal authorities, marched away to join their coun-
trymen in Gallicia. ,In Lisbon they were only

118 N AltRA'fIVE OF THE

prevented from adopting a similar course by the
promptitude and decision of J unot. InstantIy on
the news froro Oporto being reported tohim, he
caused the whole of Caraffa's corps to be arrested
and disarmed; and putting them on board of cer-

. tain hulks which lay at anchor in the· Tagus, he
kept them there as prisoners. But the ímpetus
to a general revolt was given; the match was al-
ready laid to the train, and no exertions on the
part of the French functionaries could hinder it
from exploding.

On the first impulse of the moment, the autho-
rities at Oporto cast Quesnel into prison, tore
down the French flag, and hoisted the national
standard in ¡ts place. By degrees, however, they
became alarmed at. the boldness of their own pro-
ceedings; and seeing themselves deserted by the
Spaniards, they began to devise schemes for avert-
ing the vengeance of the French General. Don
Luiz d'Oliveira, ¡nto whose hands the temporary
power had been intrusted, betrayed that trust so
far as to write, in terms unworthy of a Portuguese,
to Junot, and to· restore the tri-coloured flag to its
former position; whilst he endeavoured, by various
acts of kindness . towards the French, to make
amends for the violence which they had suffered
a few days before. But a spirit had gone abroad
in other quarters, which soon renewed in the in-
habitants of Oporto that hatred of their oppressors

PENINSULAR WAH. 119

of which they had already given sorne proof; and
the cry of " Death to the French-Long live the
Regent!" resounded through the streets. These
cries were speedily followed by a second decla-
ration ofindependence. Oliveira was put to death;
and a junta having formed itself, in imitation of
ihat of Seville, proceeded, with the venerable
bishop at its head, to issue proclamations, and to
call upon all good Portuguese to unite against the
common enemy.

The appeal of the junta was heard through ...
out the whole kingdom; and it was everywhere
obeyed. The students at the University of Coim-
bra were among" the first to take up arms; the
peasantry of Tras os Montes were not less on the
alert; Algarves was in open revolt, and the Alen-
tejo ripe for insurrection. That which he had long
apprehended, Junot saw at length in progress, and
proceeding with a violence and energy which
threatened to set all endeavours to suppress it at
defiance; but Junot was not aman to succumb
under difficulties, however imminent. He set
himself vigorously to the task of allaying the
. general ferment; and he applied to that object
not force alone, but all the expedients of flattering
harangues and conciliatory measures.

Bis first act ",as to remit what had not heen
paid of the contribution formerly imposed upon
the people. He next affected to take the Portu-

120 N ARRA TIVE OF 'CHE

guese troops under his especial care, augmenting
thcir pay, discharging their arrears, and appearing
to place the utmost reliance upon their fidelity
andvalour; and hedid his best to amuse the in-
habitantsof Lisbon," by a renewal of the proces-
sions and religious festivals to which they had in
former tim€s be en accUstomed. Butwhilst he
pursued this course in h:is more general measures,
he was not.· unmindful .of the policy of striking
terror by particular examples; and he set on foot
a rnultitude of separate expeditions, with the view
of crushing the rebeHion in each of the towns or
districts where it rnjght appear to rage with the
greatest violence. On that errand Loison, who
had returned to Lisbon, was despatched against
Oporto, at the head of three battalions of infantry
and several squadrons of horse; Thornieres was .
directed to reduce Fort N azareth; whilst Keller-
man . was sent to insure the obedience of Villa
Franca, Alcoentre, and Alcoba~a. These are but
a few of the expeditions which the Duke of Abran-
tes found it necessary to fit out,.of which sorne
were áttended with mornentary. success, whilst
others entirely failed. But even the successes of
the French proved of little solid utility to thero.
As long as an arrned force was at hand, to oppose
which no rneans existed, a town, or village, or
even a district, would remain quiet,-the ver y
next instant aner the troops were withdrawn, aH

PENINSULAR W AR. 121

became again tumult and commotion. Junot saw
and felt his embarrassments keenly; but the
moment was now rapidly approaching which pro-
mised to bring these difficulties to a head. Ru-
rnours were in hourly circulation of the coming of
a British arrny, and at last it was officially corn- .
municated that a British arrny had landed.

122 NARRATIVE O}' 'fHB

CHAPTER V.

ArrivaI of Sir Arthúr Wellesley at Oporto-His cOllferencc
with the junta-The transports assemble off Mondego,and
the troops are landed- Strange conduct of General Freire
and the Portuguese army-Junot takes measures to oppose
the progress of the English, and calls in his detachments-
Delaborde retires before Sir Arthur Wellesley-Battle of
Loris:a-Arrival of General Anstruther on the coast-March
of the British army toVimiero-Sir Harry Burrard arrives
in the offing-Is visited by General Wellesley; but refuses
to sanction an advance~The British attacked by Junot's
army-Bat~le of Vimiero.

SIR AR'fHUR W ELLESLEY, as soon as he had c1osE'd.
his corresponden ce with the junta of Gallicia, and
directed the transports which conveyed his troops
to rendezvous at the rnouth of the Mondego, pro-
ceeded in person to Oporto, for the purpose of
arranging sorne plan of campaign with the govern-
ment of that place, or, as it then termed itself, the
Suprerne Junta of Portugal. He was received by
the bishop, as head of the body, with every ap-

PENINSULAR W AU. 123

pearance of cordiality; and all the supplies of dif-
ferent kinds of which he stood in need, including
draft cattle of various descriptions, were readily
promised to him; but when he proposed to effect
a landing there, and to co-operate with the gar-
rison in a movement upon the capital, a variety of
objections were started to the measure. lt was
suggested that, by landing on sorne part of the
coast nearer to Lisbon, Junot might be attacked
beforeall or even most of his detachments, at that
moment scattered through the country, could be
called in; whilst the Portuguese in Oporto would
be ready to intercept his retreat, in case .he should
endeavour to make any movement towards Gal-
licia. How far Sir Arthur was swayed by this
reasoning, it would be presuming to pronounce; a
communication from Admiral Sir Charles Cotton,
it is' believed, determined him to seek a point of
landing elsewhere; and he followed his transports
to the appointed place of meeting in Mondego
Bay.

On his arrival there, he found that important
despatches from England were waiting for him.
By these, he was informed that fresh troops
might be expected to join bis army every moment;
one division being aIread y embarked at Ramsgate
under Brigadier-general Anstruther, whilst ano-
ther was assembling at Harwich; but it was at
the same time intimated to him that Sir Hew

124 NAltRATIVE OF THE

Dalrymple had received orders to proceed from
Gibraltar in the character of commander-in-chief ;
Sir Harry Burrard had been nominated as second ;
and Sir Jobn Moore, who had just returned" from
the Baltic with a corps of ten thousand men, was
likewise to serve in Portugal. In spite of these
arrangements, however, Sir Arthur was enjoined
to make good his landing, whenever a favourable
opportunity should offei-, and to enter at once
upon any series of operations, for the successful
accomplishment of which he might judge himself
sufficiently strong.

In obedience to these instructions; and having
conferred with Sir Charles Cotton, General Wel-
les ley issued orders for the immediate disembark-
ation of his "corps at the mouth of the Mondego.
A fast-sailingvessel was" at the same time des-
patched, to require the immediate junction of
General Spencer and his division;" and every
arrangement háving been made, the landing
began. A strong west wind and a violent surf
rendered this both a tedious aúd "a perilous opera-
tion, several boats being swamped, and sorne men,
both sailors and soldiers~ perishing among the
breakers; but after fourdays of severe fatigue,
the force was diseníbarked', incIuding the" division
of General Spencer, which arrived just as thelast
divisit)U began to"leave their" transports. The
whol€ British ar"niy, amounting; to rather more

PENINSULAR WAR. J25

than thirteen thousand men, bivouacked on the
8th of August on the beach.

Whilst the British force was thus employed,
General Bernardin Freire arrived. at Coimbra with
about seven thousand infantry and six hundred
cavalry of the Portuguese army, for the purpose
of joining and co-operating with Sir Arthur Wel-
lesley. These were, for the most part, wretchedly
armed, and their discipline had attained to no
higher degree of excellence, than usually attends
raw levies suddenly called out, and as snddenly
embodied; they were not therefore likely to add
much to the real strength, whilst they would draw
heavily upon the supplies of the invaders. N e-
vertheless, as it was advisable upon political
grounds that the Portuguese should accompany
the English in their present undertaking, it was
arranged between the Generals, that both .corps
should move in the direction of the capital, and
that they should form a junction on the 11th or
12th at the town of I. .. eira.

In ¡lccordance with this arrangement, the ad-
vanced-guard of Sir Arthur's army began its
march on the 9th of August. It consisted of
some companies of riflemen of the 60th and 95th
regiments, supported by the brigades of Major-
general Hill and Major-general Ferguson; and it
was followed on the day after by the ",hole of the
corps. The men marched with sixty rounds of

126 NARRATIVE OF THE

arnmunition in their cartouch-boxes, and provi-
sions of meat, biscuit, &c. in their haversacks,
sufficient for the consumption of three days; and
the column was followed by a string of mules,
bearing stOl'es of every kind. N o troops ever took
the field in higher spirits, or in a state of moré
perfect discipline. Confident in their leader,
likewise, and no less confident in thernselves,
th~y desired nothing more ardently than to behold
their enemy: for even thus early in the war, it
was the custom of a British soldier to admit of no
apprehensions as to the issue of a battle. The
entire strength of the corps made up barely thir-
teen thousand three hundred men; there were
attached to it two hundred cavalry of the 20th"
1ight dragoons; and -its artillery muste red in aH
eighteen pieces.

The troops arrived in Leira, without having met
with any opposition, on the 11th and 12th, and
they were received by the inhabitants with enthu-
siastic rapture, as by persons who had long groaned
under oppression, and at last beheld their de-
liverers. On the same day, General Freire's corps
made its appearance; but the General himself had
lost that zeal for sharing in the glorious enterprise
before them, which seemed to animate him during
his late conference with Sir Arthur Wellesley;
He begao by doubting whether it would be prac-
ticable to find supplies for both armies 00 the same

PENINSULAR WAR. 127

1ine of march; and he ended by requiring, as the
pl'ice of his adherence to the British standard, that
Sir Arthur Wellesley should subsist hiro ando his
troops from the stores of the English commissary.
This was a dernand with which the English Gene-
ral could not, of course, comply. He represented
that his army, fresh from a voyage, and Hable to
be separated at any moment from its ships, instead
of being able to furnish provisions to the troops
of the country, ,would, in all probability, be com-
pelled to draw upon the country for its own sup-
pIies; and he expressed his astonishment that any
such unreasonable expectation should have be en
formed. The discussion was maintained for sorne
time with much forbearance on the side of Sir
Arthur Wellesley, and with a degree oí obstinacy
on that of Freire, for which it was not very easy to
account; and it ended at length in the latter de-
cIaring his determination to withdraw himself en-
tirely from all share in the intended series of
operations. With sorne difficulty he was prevailed
upon to leave a brigade of infantry and two hun-
dred and fifty horse with the British army; but
the remainder he positively prohibited froro moving.

N otwithstanding this exhibition of the kind of
aid which he roight expect from his allies, Sir Ar-
thur determined to lose no time in prosecuting the
undertaking which he had begun. From all ap-
prehensions on the side of Spain, the inteIligence

128 NAURATIVE OF 'fUE

of the vietory of Baylen, and of the consequent
flight of Joseph from Madrid, completely freed
him; and he still hoped, notwithstanding the well-
known activity of the Freneh generals, that he
might be enabled to engage J unot before Loison
should have had time to join him. U nder this
persuasion, he renewed his march on the 13th, and
on the 14th reached Alcoba~a, the enemy having
evacuated it during the preceding night; and on
the 15th his head-quarters were established at
Caldas.

It has be en said that, at the moment when in-
telligence of the landing of the British army
reaehed Marshal J unot, his troops were scattered
o'Ver many districts of Portugal. with the view of
extin"guishing, as fast as they appeared, the first
spal."ks of rebellion, and putting in a state of de-
fence such fortified posts as remained in the hands
of the Freneh. Among other generals, Loison and
ThomieresJ each with his division, had departed
from Lisbon-the former, for the purpose of quiet-
ing the Alentejo, and relieving Elvas, already
blockaded by the Spaniards; the latter, to over-
a'Ve Coimbra, and reduce Fort Nazareth. Of
these, Thomieres was illstantly recalled; and his
brigade being added to that of General Delaborde,
the latter officer was directed to ad vanee towards
Mondego, that he might watch the movements of
the English, and, as far as he was able, retard

PENINSULAR WAlt. 129

their progress. General Loison was likewise
called in, Junot urging him by letter, when pro-
posing to bombard Badajoz, " to abandon all
his projects, and to hasten, without delay, to
Abrantes." But though he made every possible
exertion, leaving behind him multitudes of sick
and weary' whom he found it impossible to drago
along, he failed in joining Delaborde in sufficient
time to prove of any essential service; for Dela-
borde, in obedience to the orders of his chíef,
marched down at the head of five or six thousand
men towards the coast. As the English advanced,
he gradually feH back, manifesting, however, no
disinc1ination to risk an action, whenever the
nature of the ground should authorise the measure;
and it was not long before a fitting opportunity
presented itself. lt was the rear-guard of his
coluinn which retired from Caldas on the evening
preceding the day of Sir Arthur Wellesley's al':"
rival; and on the following morning the two
armies were in sight of one another.

A trifling skirmish had occurred at Obidos on
the 15th, between four companies of British rifle-
men and the French outposts, in which sorne lives
were lost on both sides, and no very deeided ad-
vantage obtained on either. On the 16th, again,
all was quiet; Sir Arthur devoting that day to thé
arrangement of his own plans, and to the institu-
tion of striet and aeeurate inquiries as to the

,"OL. I. I

130 NAltltATIVE 01' 'l'I-IE

situatioll of General Loison. He likewise recon·
noitred the position which General Delaborde had
assumed, and found it to be one of extraordinary
strength and diffieu1ty; indeed, its seleetion re-
Hected the highest eredit upon the military talents
ofthat officer, as the following tolerably ac(mrate
deseription of its-loeality may serve to proveo

The villages of Caldas and Rolj~a are built
110rth and south from eaeh other, at the opposite
extremities of an immense valley, which opens out
largely towards the west; and midway betweeu
them stand s the littJe town of Obidos, with its
splendid aqueduct and its Moorish castle. Rolip
itself erowns an eminenee, which again is Hanked
on the oue hand by a range of hilIs, on the other
by rugged mountains; by the very mountains,. in-
deed, which bend round to girdle in the vale 01'
basin, of which notice has just been taken. lm-
mediately in front of it there is a sandy plain, not,
perhaps, in the strictest meaning of the term,
woody, but studded with low firs and other
shrubs; and in its real' are four 01' five passes,
which lead through the mountains. This was the
situation in which Delaborde saw fit to await
the approaeh of th~ English army. His outposts,
driven in from Obid08, extended now along the
plain to the hi118 on both sides of the valley; and
bis line was Cormed on the high ground in front of
the village, so as that both its flanks might rest,

]'ENIXSllLAlt \\' AR.

one upon the mountains, the. other upon a steep
eminence. Of his force it is not easy to speak
with confidence, the writers of different nations
having made different estimates.of it; but by Sir
Arthur Wellesley it was computed at six thousand
men; and there i8 no reasan to believe that his
judgment was formed on mistaken grounds. Be
this, however, as it may, there it stood presenting
a bold front to its enemies; and' covering the

" passes by which, in· case of a reverse, its retreat
might at any moment be made good, or a new
position seized in the mountains.

Every necessary ordér having been iEsued, and
every man made aware on the evening of the 16th
of the business in which he was about to be em-
ployed, the troops on the following morning stood
to their arms; and just as day began to dawn,
marched from the bivouac in three columns of
attack. 'rhe !'ight column, which consisted of
twelve hundred Portuguese infantry, and fifty Por-
tuguese horse, was directed to make a considera-
ble detour, and to penetrate into the mountain8~
for the purpose of turning the enemy's left; it was
then to wheel up, and bear down with all its
weight upon the real' of Delaborde's lineo The

. left column again, consisting of two brigades of
British infantry-those of Major.general Ferguson
and Brigadier-general Bowes; three companies
of riflemen, a brigade of light artillery, twenty

132 NARIL\TIYE OF 'l'HE

B,ritísh and twenty Portuguese horse, reeeived
orders to ascend the hilIs at Obidos, to drive in all
the enemy's posts on that side of the valley, and to
turn his right to Roli~a. It was at the same time
directed to watch the motions of General Loison,
of whose arrival at Rio Major, on the preceding
nÍght, intelligence had been obtained; and in. case
he should come up, to engage him before he should
have had an opportunity of communicatíng with
Delaborde. The centre colurnn again, which was
composed of four brigades, namely, Major-general
Hill's, Brigadier-general Crawford's, Brigadier-
general Nightingale's, and Brigadier-general Fane's,
together with four hUlldred Portuguese light infan-
try, the remainder of the British and Portuguese
cavalry, a brigade of nine and a brigade of six-
pounders, had it in charge to attack the enemy in
front.

As the distance between Caldas and Roli~a falls
not short of three leagues, the morning was consi-
tlerably advanced before the troops arrived witbin
musket-shot of the French outposts. N othing
could exceed the orderly and gallant style in
which they traversed the intervening space. The
day chanced to be .remarkabl y fine, and the scenery
through which the columns passed was varied and
striking; but they were themselves by fat the
most striking feature in tbe whole panorama.
'Whcl'ever any broken piece of ground 01' other

YENINSCLAR WAIt. 133

natural obstacle carne in the way, the head of the
column having passed it, would pause till the rear
had recovered its order, and resumed its station ;
and then the whole would press forward with the
same attention to distances, and the same orderly
silence, which are usually preserved at a review.
At last, however, the enemy's line became visible,
and in a few minutes afterwards the skirmishers
were engaged. The centre divisioll now broke
into different eolumns of battalions; that on the
left pressed on with a quick pace, whilst the rifle-
men on the fight drove in, with great gallantryand
in rapid style, the tirailleurs who were opposed to
them. At this moment General Ferguson's column
was seen descending the hills, and moving rapídly
in a directioll to cut off the enemy's retreat. But
Delaborde was not !'lO incautious as to permit that.
The"posts which covered his position 011 the plain
beiug all carried, he lost no time in abandoning it,
and withdrew his troops, in excellent order, and
with great celerity, into the passes. It was
evident, indeed, that to the gorges of these passes
he had an along looked, as furnishing him with
the most advantageous battle-ground; for he in-
stantly assumed a new position there, and pre-
sented a front more formidable than ever, because
more than ever protected by the inequalities of the
ground froro the approach of the assailants.

U nder these circurnstances, it became nece"s-

NAItRATTYE 01" TtlE

sary, in some degree, to alter the plan of attack.
Five separate columns were now formed, to each
of which was committed the task of carrying a
pass; but as the ground was peculiarly difficult,
and the openings extremely narrow, no more than
five British battalions, a few companies of British
1ight infantry, and the brigade of Portuguese,
could be brought into play. The following lS
the order in which this second assault was ar-
ranged :-

The Portuguese infantry were directed to move
up a pass on the right of the whole line, through
the pass next on the right to which the light com-
panies of General Hill's brigade, supported by the
5th regiment, were commanded to penetrate. The
office of forcing the third pass was committed to
the 29th- and 9th regiments; the fourth became
the province of the 45th regiment; aud the fifth
fell to the lot of the 82nd. Than these passes, it
is not easy to imagine any ground capable of pre-
senting more serious obstacles to an assault, ol'
more easy of a desperate defence. They were not
only overhung on either hand by rocks and groves,.
among which skirmishers might lie secure, and do
terrible execution with their fire; but as the troops
advanced, they carne upon spaces rough with myr-
tles and other shrubs; which unavoidably .de-
ranged . their order, at the same time that they fur-
nlshed admirable cover to the enemy. This was

PENINSULAR ."'AR. 135

particularly the case in that pass which the 29th
and 9th regiments had been directed to carry; and
the enemy were not remiss in making the most of
their advantages. Having permitted the column
to go on, almost unmolested, till the leading com-
panies wel'e within a few yards of the myrtle grove,
the French suddenly opened a fire~ both from the
front and flanks, which nothing but the most de-
termined bravery on the partof .the British troops
could have resisted. As may be imagined, the
advanceofthe column was for a moment checked;
but it was only for a momento Colonel Lake, who
led the attack, waving his 'hat in his hand, called ·on
the men to follow; they answered the call with a
spirit-stirring cheer, and dashed on. But the
enemy were full ofconfidence in themsel ves and
in their position, andthey disputed every inch,of
grotind; nor was it till after a considerable los8
had been sustained, ineluding the gallant officer
who had so far conducted them to victory, that the
29th succeeded in crowning the plateau.

Thei were not yet formed in line, and the 9th
was still entangled in the pass, when a French
battalion advanced boldly tocharg'e them. The
enemy were met with the same spirit which they
themselves exhibited, and the slaughter was ver y
reat . on both sides; but the charge was re-

pulsed. It was renewed in a few minutes after
hy' increased numbers; fol' the columns which

130 NARItATIYE OF THE

were ascending the other passes being fal' in the
rear, the Fr~nch were enabled to bring the great
mass of their force to bear upon this point; but the
gallant 9th was now at hand to aid their com-
rades; and the enemy were again driven back
with much slaughter. Nor was an opportunity
afforded them of repeating their efforts; for the
heads of different columns began to show them-
selves, and tbe position was carried at an points.
The enemy accordingly drew off his troops, and
began to retire, though in excellent order. Se~'e­
ral efforts were made to harass him as he feH
back, as well by the ligbt infantry as by the
cavalry; but his superiority in the latter arm, as
well as the nature of the country, rendered these
of little avail. He made good his retreat, leaving
behind him three pieces of cannon, and about a
thousand men, in killed, wounded, and missing.

Sir Arthur Wellesley having followed the ene-
rny as fal' as Villa Verde, on the road to Torres
Vedras, halted for the night. On the following
morning the pursuit was about to be renewed,
and it seemed as if no check would be given to
the ardour of the troops, ti11 they should have won
a second victory, and established themselves in
Lisbon, when the arrival of a messenger at head-

,

quarters caused a suspension of the orders already
issued. This person was the bearer of despatches
from Brigadier-general Anstruther, who, with a

PENINSULAR WAH. 137

Iarge fleet of store-ships, and a reinforcement of
troops, was now at anchor off the townof Pe-
niche. As it was no doubt a matter of the first
importance to bring these reinforcements into the
line without delay, Sir Arthur resolved to move
in such a direction as would at 'once insure their
landing, and facilitate their ready junction with
his corps. With this view he directed the head
of his column towards Lourinho, which· place he
reached that evening, and on the following day
took up a position near the village of Vimiero.

The point at which General Anstruther's bri-
gade was directed to land, was on a sandy beach
at the mou th of the' Maceira. There the disem-
barkation accordingly took place, but amidst dif.
ficuIties of 110 ordinary 11ature; for the surf ran
tremendously high; and flying bocEes of the ene-
my's' cavalry hove red about, as if with the design
of cutting off each detachment as it stepped on
shore. The skill and perseverance of the seamen,
however, triumphed over the former of these dan-
gers; one or two boats only being swamped, and
about half a dozen men losing their lives; and
against the latter, the vigila11ce and good order of
the troops themselves offered defence e11ough.
The whole were got 011 shore at an early hour on
the 20th; and 110011 had barely passed when they
took their station along with part of Generar
Spencer's brigade, in the advance.

138 N ARRATIVE OF 'l'RE

On the very day which saw this division joiri.
bis army, 1t was announced to Sir Arthur Wellesley
that General A ucland was in the offing; and before
dark, Sir Harry Burrard arrived in Maceira Roads.
Sir Arthur 10st no time in opening a communication
with that officer. He went on board of thefrigate
in which he was embarked the same night, laid be-
fore him a statement of affairs as they then stood,
and ente red into a minute detail of the plans which
he had himself formed, and which he was already
prepared to carry into effect. He represented to
him the wisdom of resuming the offensive, whilst
the British troops were yet flushed with their recent
victory, and the enemy. distracted and disheart-
ened; and he proposed to move on the following
morning tooccupy Mafra, and to turn the position
whichhe understood that the French had taken up
along the heights of Torres Yedras. Whatever
were real1y the objections to a plan so bold, and
yet so judicious, Sir Harry Burrard saw many. He
urged, in the first place, tha~ since Sir John Moore's
corps might be reasonably expected on the coast in
the course ora few days at the farthest, it would
'be more prudent to remain quietIy where they
were tillit shouldhave actually arrived; in the
next place, that the army was sadly in want of
cavalry, and that the horses which dragged the
guns were represented as being of the 'worst de-
scription. Then again there was a risk 'of losing

PENINSULAR WAH, 13D

thei¡' f3upplies, in case they should diverge far froro
the shipping. It was in vain that Sir Atthur
pointed out, in reply to aH this, the irnpossibility
of remaining quiet; beeause, if they did not ad-
vanee to attack the enemy, the enemy would
surely advance to attaek them. It was in vain
that he represented the great advantage which
would al'ise, were Sir John Moore's ~orps to land
in the Mondego, and rnarch upon Santarem, thus
cutting off the enemy's retreat both by Alrneida
and Elvas, Sir Harry Burrard's mind was made
up. He would sanction no rash rnovement with a
force as yetineornplete in every one of its branches;
and as the senior offieer, his will eould not be dis-
puted, Sir Arthur returned to theeamp that
night, and the very next day gave arnple proof.~
that he had not erred in one,· at least, of bis antiei-
pations,

Whilst Delaborde was executing the ordel's
which he had received, and watehing and retard-
ing the progress of the English in a style worthy of
his well-earned reputation, Junot was straining
every nerve to bring into the field a force eapáble
of sustaining, with sorne prospeet of success,a
general action with the British arrny. With this
view, the garrisons of Lisbon, and of the forts in its
neighbourhood, were drained of every rnan WhOlll
it was deemed prudent to withdraw ;and the
corps of Loison, Thornieres, aneI Kellerman, and

140 NA'RR'A TIV1l:. OF THJJ:

latterly of Delaborde himself, received orders to
concentrate, withou"t delay, in the position of Torres
Yedras. The concentration too k place during the
18th and 19th, and on the 20th the army was ar·
ranged into divisions and brigades. Of the former
there were two; one of which was given to Dela-
borde, the other to Loison; whilst Kellerman took
charge of the reserve, composed entirely of grena-
diers.

These arrangements being complete, Junot im-
mediately advanced towards Vi mi ero, where he
had heard that the British army was encamped.
The village of Vimiero stand s in themidst of a
beautiful valley, through which the Maceira flows,
at the distance of about three miles, or something
less, from the sea. On either side the hilIs rise to
a considerable altitude, particularly towards the
north, where a chain of detached heights rear
themselves, with striking abruptness, out of the
pIain. Over the ridges of these runs the high-
road, through the hamlets of Fontanel and Ven toza
to Lourinho; and on the eastern side is a deep
ravine, at the bottom of which stands the village of
Toledo. On the north-east of Vimiero, again.
there is a sort of table-Iand, covered in part with
shrubs, and in part bare, which commands all the
approaches from the side of Torres Ved ras ; and
which is itself commanded in rear, and towards
the west, by a mass of mountains that occupY the "

l'E~INSULAR WAH. 141

whole space between the left bank of the Maceira
and the sea. Such was the nature of the ground
along which the British army now lay in bivouac ;
its arrangements in detail were these ;-

The greater part of the infantry, including the
1 st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 8th brigades, with
eight pieces ofartillery, were posted upon the mass
of mountains just described; on the south-eastern
hill, again, or table-Iand, Brigadier-general Fane
and Brigadier-general Anstruther took their sta-
tions; the former with his riflemen and the 50th
regiment, the latter with his whoIe brigade; and
they were supported by half a brigade of nine-
pounders and half a brigade of sixes, which had
been sent to them during the night. The high
road to Lourinho, however, and the heights which
it crosses,can hardly be said to have be en occu-
pied' at all, only a single picket keeping guard
there; because no water being in the neighbour-
hood, and Sir Arthur not intending to continue OH
his ground longer than till daylight should enable
him to quit it, he did not esteem it necessary to
place anynumber of troops in a situation where
so many inconveniences must attend them. But
the village itself was fulIy occupied; the reserve~
both of artiIlery and cavalry, being stationed
there.

Marshal J unot quitted his position at Torres
Ved ras soon after nightfall on the 20th;- and hav-

142 NAHItATIVE Ol<" 'fUE

ing executed a tedious and difficuIt march, throug'h
narrow defiles, arrived, about seven o'dock in the
¡norning, within a league and a half of theBritish
outposts. The ground which he occupied was,
however, complctely hidden from the view of the
English. He was accordingly enabIed to form his
coIumns of attack unseen; nor was it ti11 a con-
siderable mass of cavalry had deployed immedi-
ately in front of the picket which observed the
Lourinho road, that on the part of Sir Arthur Wel-
lesley an action was anticipated. But Sir Arthur,
who was never taken by surprise, perceived -in a
moment that the principal attack would be di-
rected where he had most cause to apprehendit,
and where his line' was most unq uestionably the
weakest: he ordered the brigades of Generals
Ferguson, Nightingale, Aucland, and Bowes, suc-
cessively to cross the ravine, and long before the
first shot had been fired at the outposts, his left
was secure.

The enemy carne on in two powerful columns,
supported and flanked by weaker bodies; the
right, which consisted of about six thousand men,
moving, upon the Lourinho road; the left, of about
-Q.ve thousand, directing its efforts against the table
land. The first onset of both was, as the first
onset of Fre~ch troops always is, extrcmely impe-
tuous; insomuch that, on the left of the table
land, the skirmislters .were fairly driven in, and

PENINSULAR WAR. 143

the head of the advancing column presented itself¡
almost without a check, in front of the 50th regi ...
mento The 50th, which was drawn up in line~
permitted the enemy to approach till scarcely
twenty yards divided them; and then pouring in
a well-directed volley" made ready to charge. The
enemy stood, for a moment, as if determined to
await the shock; but the bayonets of the British
corps were hardly crossed, when they began to
waver; and befare the rush was made, they broke
and Hed. Almost at the saine instant, the 2nd
battalion of the 43rd found itself vigorously at-
tacked in the town of Vimiero by a lesser column,
which Hanked the greater. The 43rd had thrown
part of its body into the church-yard> whilst part
filled the houses, and covered the road ""hich led
to it; and it firmly met and bravely repel1ed every
effort which was made to dislodge it. A similar
result attended the attack which took place upon
the extreme left of the British line, which was
condueted with eonspicUDUS gallantry by General
Delaborde .. It was repelled with immense slaugh-
ter, chieHy by the exertions of the 97th and 52nd
regiments.

In the mean while a tremendous eontest was
going on among the hilIs, on the British right, and
in the direction of the Lourinho road. The enemy
forced their way in thisquarter as they had don~
on the other flank, through the body of skirmishers

144 NARRATIVE 01<' 'fHE

which covered the British line; nor did they make
the slightest pause, till they beheld the 36th, the
40th, and 71st regiments in close array before
them. Their line was likewise formed in a mo-
ment; and severa) terrible discharges of musketry
were exchanged at a distance which hardly al-
lowed of a single bullet passing wide of its mark.
At length, the 82nd and 29th regiments carne up
to the support of their cororades, and the word
was given to charge. One cheer, loud, regular,
and appalling, warned the French of what they
had to expect; but the French were roen of tried
valour, and they stood to the lasto That was
a treroendous onset. The entire front rank of the
enemy perished; and the men who composed it
were found, at the close ofthe action, lying on the
very spots where each, during its continuance, had
stood. Instantly the line gave way; and being
pursued with great impetuosity, six pieces of can-
non were captured on the field. An attempt was,
indeed, roade to recover these, at a moment when
the 71st and 82nd, who had halted in the valley,
were lying down to rest after their labours; but it
was made to no purpose. These regiroents only
fell back to a little rising gronnd, from whence
thelr fire could be gi ven with greater effect; they
gave it, and once more bringing the bayonet into
play, carried every thingbefore thero.

The French fought well in this action. They

PENINSULAR WAR. 145

fought like men who had been accustomed to con-
quer, and had not yet learned to suffer defeat.
The grenadiers oftheir reserve, in particular, per-
formed prodigies ofvalour, advancing under a cross
fire of musketry and cannon, and never giving way
till the bayonets of the British troops drove them
down the deseent. But they were routed at all
points, and that with a slaughter far greater than
usually occurs to armies of a similar magnitude.
Out of twelve or thirteen thousand men whom
they brought into the field, three or four thousand
feH; besides a large proportion of prisoners, of
whom several were officers of rank. On the si de
of the British, the total los s amounted to 783, in
killed, wounded, and missing; among the former
of whom was Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor, com-
manding the 20th light dragoons. He was 8hot
through the heart whilst leading a brilliant charge
which his detachment made; and in which, after
committing terrible havoc among the enemy's in-
fantry, it suddenly found itself beset by a whole
brigade of French cavalry.

The battle had hardly begun, when Sir Harry
Burrard, followed by his staff, arrived upon the
field. Sir Arthur Wellesley, as a matter of
course, proposed to resign to him all further
responsibility; but Sir Harry possessed too much
judgment not to ,perceive that the execution of
plans could not be left in safer hands than in

VOL. I. K

146 NARHATIVE 01<' THE

those of the man who had formed them. He
accordingly declined interfering in any way till
thé result of the struggle should be known, and
took upon himself the direction of future ope-
rations only when the defeat of the enemy was
ascertained. At that critical juncture, Sir Arthur
Wellesley represented to him, in the strongest
terms, that this was the moment for advancing; that
whilst part of the army followed up the be aten
enemy, part should push on by the nearest road
to Torres Yedras. . He pointed out that snch a
movement must inevitably cut off the French from
Lisbon, and either place them between twofires,
or compel them to begin a ruinous retreat, by the
route of Alenquer and Villa Franca : he reminded
himt~at there was no deficiency either of ammu-
nition or provisions in the camp; that the British
soldiers were in high spirits and admirable dis-
cipline ; . theirenemiesdisheartened, wearied with
their late marches, and almost disorganised. AH
this he urged upon the field with the warmth and
earnestness of a successful officer, and the clear-
ness and perspicuity for which he is remarkable.
But Sir Rarry was not to be moved from his de-
termination. Re had made up his mind already
not to quit Vimiero till Sir John Moore should ar-
rive; and he saw nothing in the events of theday
to cause a change in his sentiments. The cavalry,
he said, were certainly notstrengthened, nor the

PENINSULAR WAR. 147

artillery horses improved, by the exertions which
they had undergone. In a word, he was resolved
not to act with precipitation; and the British
troops were accordingly commanded to rest upon
their arms.

148 NARRATIVE O:E' THE

CHAI~TER VI.

Inactivity of the British army under Sir Harry Burrard-Ar-

rival of General Kellerman at Vimiero, with proposals-Sir

Hew Dalrymple takes the command, and enters into a

treaty with KelIerman-Difficulties as to the disposal of tite

Russian fleet, and preparations for a renewal of hostilities-

Arrival of Sir John Moore's corps-Junot consents that the

two Admirals shall arrange the point at issue between thern-

selves-The convention of Cintra condemned by both Por-

tuguese and Spaniards-Almeida and Elvas given up-The

Bdtish troops enter Lisbon-Joy of the inhabitants-Ca-

raffa's corps restored to liberty, and re-armed.-The French

army sails for France, and the Russian fleet is conveyed. tI} .
England.

lT has be en stated, in the preceding chapter, that
among the variety of motives which induced Sir
Harry Burrard, bbth before and after the victory
of Vimiero, to cheGk the advance of the British
army upon Lisbon, one, and certainly not the
least influential, was the expectation which he
entertained, that every day would bring into his
camp a re-inforcement often thousand men, under

PENINS ULA H. ''''A R. 149

the· command of Lieutenant-general Sir John
Moore. The corps in question (to which it was
the writer's good fortune to be attached) had em-
barked at Portsmouth so early as the 3] st of July;
but owing to a continuance ofbaffiing and adverse
wÍnds, it was the 19th of August before it arrived
in Mondego Bay. It arrived, too, at a moment
when the leaders of the divisions which had pre-
ceded it were too much occupied with other
matters to pay to its movements any particular
attention; and it became, in consequence, essen-
tial to open an immediate communication with
them, and to ascertain how, and upon what
service, it should prepare to empIoy itself.

Having Iearned from sorne of the coasting ves-
seIs that fue right of the British army was in
position at Sto Martinho, Sir John Moore did me
the honour to desire that 1 should proceed at once
to that point, and communicate. to Sir Arthur
Wellesley, or Sir Harry Burrard,or the officer,
whoeyer he might be, in command, the fact of his
arrival. In obedience to these instructions I set
sail in a light frigate, hoping, and indeed expect-
ing, that I should be able to reach my destination
on the following day; but at an early hour on the
20th the breeze died away, and what was still
more distressing, the appearance of the sky and
the state of the atmosphere, indicated a long con-
tinuance of calm weather. Under these circum-

150 NARRATIVE OF THE

stances 1 did not consider it prudent to remain
any longer bn board of ship; a boat was therefore
manned, which conveyed me twelve leagues by
rowing, and landed me soon after sunset at the
village of Sto N azareth.

lt was not without great difficulty, and the loss
of several precious hours, that 1 bere succeeded in
procuring either a guide to direct my steps, or the
means of'conveyance; indeed, of my journey from
thence to head-quarters no iriconside~able portion
was performed on foot. On this account 1 failed,
unfortunately for myself, in reaching Vimiero' till
the 24th, three days after the battle had been
fought, and the campaign was, to all intents and
purposes, at an end ; for the heads of departments
)"ere, 1 perceived; all busily occupied in conduct-
ing a negociation, of the origin and end of which
the following is a brief account :-

Sir Harry Burrard, in pursuance of his system
of procrastination, continued inactive in the po-
sition of Vimiero, when, at an early hour on the
22nd, Sir Hew Dalrymple arrived from Gibraltar
to take upon himself the chief command. Sir
Hew was of course ignorant, as well of the condi-
tion of his own army, and the state of the country,
as of the means and resources of the enemy; and
he could form no other judgment respecting the
line of conduct which it behoved him to pursue,
than that which his predecessors in cornmand

PENINSULAR \VAR. ltj]

might happen to suggest. But for the attainment of
sufficient informatioll sorne time was necessary; and
before any definite COurse had been determined on,
an event occurred which gave a .new turn to the
General's deliberations.

In the evening of the same day on which Sir
Hew reached the camp, a body of cavalry was
espied advancing by the road which the enemy
had taken in their retreat. The pickets instantly
stood to their arrns ;but the alarm, 'if such it de-
serves to be called, which had momental'ily seized
them, was at once allayed, when it was observed
that the body in question were the bearers of a
flag of truce. They were stopped, as is usual in
such cases, at the out-posts, till a report of their
corning should be made at head-quarters, and an
officer sent down to ascertain their business.
They proved tobe the escort in attendance upon
General Kellerman, who had been despatched by
Marshal J unot, in consequence of the resolution
to which he and his principal officers had that
morning come, in a council of wal'; and who
was the bearer of proposals for the conclusion of a
suspension of arms, as the prelude to a more de-
finitive treaty respecting the evacuation ofPortugal.

Various rumours pr€!vailed in the camp, as to
the reception which General Kellerman's propo~
sitionreceived in different quarters. By sorne it
was asserted that it gave singular satisfaction to

152 NARRATIVEOF THE

all ;and that even Sir Arthur W ellesley, feeling
that the moment for action. had passed away,
offered no objection to the measure; by others
his opposition to it was represented as having
been both strenuous and persevering. Be this,
however, as it may, Kellerman was c~nducted,
with every mark of respect, to the house where
Sir Hew Dalrymple resided; and after a con-
ference of some duration, his first request was
granted. An armistice, to continue during forty-
eight hours, was entered into; and then began
the more important negociation, to the eonducf of
which the armistice was hut a fore-runner.

With admirable tact Kéllerman opened his part
in this transaction by magnifying, in every possible
form, the strength of tile French army, and the
amount of its resources. He spoke of his General
as determined to aecept no terms whieh should
not be to the most minute tittle honourable to the
French arms; and represented him as prepared,
in ease matters should be driven to an extremity,
to bury himself under the ruins of Lisbon. This
done, he proceeded to lay before the British eom-
manders a string of propositions, rather as if they
had be en suggestions from himself, than official
communications; for he earnest1y desired it to be
understood that he had no powers to eondude a
tre aty , and that his. present business was simply
to ascertain the faet, whether any desire to treat

PE!\'I~SUJ,AR "'AlL 153

existed on the part of the English. The conver-
satíon had not, however, proceeded far, when
either his memory, or his regard to consistency,
forsook him; for he produeed a .written doeument,
which authorised him to act at his own discretion,
and pJedged the honour of the Commander-in-
chief to fulfil any agreement into which he might
be induced to entero

1t is hardly necessary to repeat he re that the
evacuation of the whole of Portugal, including the
forts of Elvas and Almeida, in whieh the French
had garrisons, formed the basis of the present ne-
goelatIOn. To thís the enemy would consent only
on the following eonditions :-first, that the French
arrny should, on no aceount, be considered as pri-
soners of war; seeondly, that the troops should be
transported with their arms, baggage, and private
property to Franee, and be at liberty to serve
again, either in the Peninsula or elsewhere, as
soon as they should re-assemble; thirdly, that no
individual, whether Frenchman, Portuguese, or
foreigner, in alliance with Franee, who chanced to
remain in Portugal after the departure of the.
Freneh, should be molested in any way, onac-
count of the sentiments which he might have ex-
pressed, or the line of conduct which he might
have pursued, during the late oecupation; and
that all sueh persons, if they desired it, should
be at liberty ta withdraw from Portugal, with all

154 N ARRATIYE OF THE

their effects, within ayear; fourthly, that the port
of Lisbon should be recognised 'as a neutral port,
and the Russian fleet which lay there treated as
enemies' vessels are usually treated when in the
harbours of a neutral power; and lastly, that aH
the horses attached to the Frency army, as well
those belonging to the cavalry and artillery as
those of the staff, should be conveyed to France
together with the meno ,

When the su bstanceof these proposals began to
be generally l.mderstood, and a rumour got afioat
that they had be en conditionally agreed to, the
indignation of aH ranks and classes in the army
rose to a great height. There was not an indivi-
dual who appeared to entertain a doubt that Junot
felt his situation to be a desperate one; and that
nothing 8hort ofsucha feeling would have tempted
him to treat about an evacuation at all; whilst the
terms which he sought to obtain fOf himselfwere,
as if by one consent, pronounced to be absolutely
and totally inadmissible. But that which most
powerfully stirred up the wrath at least of the
junior dépaitments, was the impudent endeavour,
on' the partof the French leader, to stipulate for
the unmolestéd departure of the Russian fleet. Jt
was' seeIÍ at once that his object in. introducing
that artiCle was of a twofold nature ;-that he
wished both to reconcile his own master to the
disgrace which his arms had suffered; and tocon·

PENINSULAR WAR. 155

ciliate the good will of the Russian autocrat,
whose squadron he hoped to preserve; and it was
earnestIy trusted that the British Admiral, to
whom reference must of course be made, would
not give his consent to an arrangement so deroga-
tory to the dignity of the British flag. N or was
the general discontent directed altogether against
the details of the convention. Murmurs might
here and tb."ere be heard, all of them condemnatory
of that'excess of caution which hadch~cked a victo-
rious army in the midst of its career ; whilst a thou-
sand wishes were expressed, that the new chief's
arrival had been delayed till the campaign, so pros-
perously begun, had been brought to a conclusion.

Whilst one part of the army, and that by far the
most numerous, thus expressed themselves, there
were others, who, equally regretJing that ad-
vant~ge had not been taken of the victory of
the 21st, were nevertheless disposed to view the
pending arrangement as, under existing circum-
stances, an extremely prudent one. In their eyes
it was a matter of the firstmoment to deliver
Portugal Emtirely from the presence of French
troops, even though the troops thus expelled
should be immediately brought into play at sorne
other point on -the theatre of war. These persons
no more doubted, than their more sanguine com-
rades, as to the ultimate results of the campaign,
were it renewed; but they saw. in the loss. of

15G NARRATIVE OF TIIE

time which a recommencement of hostilities would
occasion, evils which not the most absolute suc-
ces s would be sufficient to compensate. Besides,
it was by no means impossible that the French, in
possession of the commanding position of Torres
Ved ras, masters of Lisbon, and having garrisons in
Elvas and Almeida, might protract the war till
reinforcements should reach them from Spain;
fol' though at the present moment their prospects
in Spain appeared clouded, no one dreamed that
the cloud would not soonel' or later be dispelled.
Then, again, winter was hard at hand; the re-
sources of the country were exhausted; and to
obtain supplies from home might not be at all
times practicable. Under aH these circumstances,
they gave their ready assent to the terms of
the convention, with this solitary exception, that
they saw no wisdom in treating with the Russian
Admiral through the medium of a French Marshal.

During the period which intervened between
the conclusion of the armistice, and the return of
the messenger who had carried a copy of the
convention to Sir Charles Cotton, an things re-
mained in a state of perfect quieto Officers of
every rank met together, indeed, in coteries, to
indulge in an occu'pation to which soldiers upon
active service are peculiarly prone, namely, spe-
culation as to the future; and couriers carne in
from time to time with despatches of greater or

PENINSULAR WA IL 157

less moment from different parts of the country.
But neither the speculations on the one hand, nor
the despatches on the other, proved worthy of
being recorded at length, though they were not
without interest at the moment, and that. too of
the highest order. Among other topics of con ver-
sation which chanced to be occasionally intro-
duced at head-quarters, it was but natural that
the probable plans of the French, after they had
cantoned their troops about Burgos, should prove
not the least attractive. On this head the gene-
ral opinion seemed to be, that they would attempt
nothing further than to keep their own ground,
till powerful reinforcements should have been sent
to them from France. Then, again, there arose
another question, namely, by the adoption of what
line of operations the British army would be best
able· to render effectual aid in their expulsion.
That we should not continue inactive in Portugal,
after it was evacuated by the French, was well
knowri; how then was it probable that we should
proceed? It was answered to this, that whatever
might be the plan s actually carried into effect,
Catalonia and the south of Spain held out nume-
rous advantages to a British force, which it could
not expect to enjoy in the Asturias or Gallicia.
The latter provinces, naturally barren and moun-
tainous, had alreadyendured the mi series of wal'
for some time; theil' forage was therefore con-

]58 N ARRATIVE 01' 'l'Hl!:

surned, and their resources exhausted. It was not
SO with Catalonia, where supplies of every kind
were represented to be abundant. and where the
people were spoken of as brave even to a proverb.
To Catalonia, therefore, it was hoped that a sepa-
rate corps rnight be despatched, even if it should
be deerned unwise to choose it for the scene
of our principal operations. N or were the present
and future condition of Portugal left unnóticed in
these social discussions. The desire of the junta
of Oporto, to transfer thither the seat of the exe-
cutive, was well known; and it was equallywell
known that the Bishop had received sorne encou-
ragernent, . even frarn British functionaries, to de-
clare hirnself the head of the governrnent; but to
thatarrangernent Sir Hew Dalryrnple .appéared
strongly opposed. He decIared hisdeterrnination
to re-establish thé regency as it had.been ap-
pointed by lhe . Prince previous to his' departure
for .the ~razils; and he expressed hirnself dissa-
tisfied with the coñduct of those persons who had
ventured, on their own responsibility, to excite a
cóntrary expectation. Then, again, there carne
despatches frorn. Castanos, stating his design of
marching direct upon Madrid, and his great an-
xiety to be inforrn~d of the expulsion of the enerny
from Portugal, and the advance ofthe British army
to co-operate withhim. But an these matters, as
has been already hinted, though full of interest at

PENINSULAR WAR. 159

the moment, possess no claim upon the attention
of the general reader now; they need not there-
for be enlarged upon.

Men's minds were wound up. to a pitch of very
considerable anxietr., when on the 26th a 1etter
from Sir Charles Cotton arrived, in which he de-
clared his decided disapprobation of that article in
the treaty, which had reference to the neutrality
of the Tagus, and the treatment of the Russian
Heet. No words can conveyan adequate idea of
the satisfaction which universally prevailed, as
soon as this most acceptable piece of intelligence
spread abroad. The French were understood,
with reference to this point, to have assumed
a tone so high, that no one entertained a doubt of
the immediate renewal of hostilities; and the ex-
pectation was certainly not diminished, when the
troops received orders to take their ground· in
marching order, at an early hom next morning.
In forty-eight hours the armistice would expire;
then would operations recommence; and so. con-
fident were all ranks that they would be resumed
in real earnest, that the following plan was openly
spoken of as on the eve of being carried into exe:-
cution.

It so happened that the Heet which contained
Sir John l\lüore and his division appeared at tbis
critical juncture in the offing.· N othing could
have occurred more opportunely; for though the

160 NARRATLVE OF THE

state of the weather was such as to render a dis-
embarkation at the instant impracticable, there
was little reason, in the month of August, to ap-
prehend a very long continuance of the gale. As
soon as the surf became moderate, the troops
would of course land; when it was understood
that they would press forward to Torres Vedras,
and occupy that important post, from which the
enemy had lately withdrawn to a fortified position
at Cabeza. In unison with this movement, Sir
Arthur Wellesley, at the head of his own corps,
was to advance by his left from Ramalhal to "Bu-
ceUas, for the purpose of turning the heights of
Cabeza, and threatening Lisbon; whilst the Por-
tuguese army would take the coast-road, and
straiten the enemy there by the occupation of
Mafra. By these arrangements, the French, it
was anticipated, would either be compelled to
fight on their strong ground, un del' the disadvan-
tage ofbeing assailed from three quarters at once;
or, in the event of their retiring upon Lisbon,
would probably be shut up there, and thell driven
at last to the necessity of surrendering at dis-
cretion. AH, however, must depend upon the
decision at which" J unot might arrive, whenever
he should be made aware of the Admiral's deter-
minatiolls; and that time might"not be needlessly
wasted, Colonel Murray, assistant quarter-master-
general, and Captain Dalrymple, military secretary

PENIl'\SULAlt WAR. 161

to the Commander-in-chief, were instantly de~
spatched to lay these determinations before him.

The hope which this sudden obstacle to the
conclusion of a treaty had for a moment excited,
was destined not to be of long continuance. Mar-
shal Junot was too well acquainted both with his
own weakness and the strength of his enemy, to
break off a negociation so favourable to- himself,
because orthe rejection of a single article; on the
contrary, he soon consented that the two admirals
should settle every question relative to the ship-
ping between thernselves, and th"e definitive treaty
was signed with as little apparent reluctance as if
no Russian fleet had lain in the Tagus. Thus, in
the short space of seventeen days, was the cam-
paign brought to a conclusion; and a kingdorn,
which previous to its cornmencernent lay, as it
were, at the feet of a conqueror, was restored most
unexpectedly to independence, and to its former
rank among the nations.

The excitement produced by these arrange-
rnents had hardly begun to subside, when new
sources of uneasiness arose. and that too in quar-
ters from which no causes of uneasiness had been
anticipated. The Portuguese, though they took
care to keep as much as possible aloof from their
allies whilst perilous attempts were to be made,
and great interests placed at issue, no sooner per-
ceived the turn which affairs had taken, than they

VOL. I. L

162 N ARRA TIVE OF TliE

chose to interfere in a manner as Httle agreeable
as, to say the trutb, it was unexpected. General
Freire, who had refused to co-operate witb Sir
Arthur Wellesley, but who, as soon as victory de~
clared for tbe English, had marcbed his trqops
towards Lisbon, visited Sir Hew Dalrymple on tbe
dayafter tbe conclusion of tbe armistiee, and de-
clared his dissatisfaction with every article in the
definitive treaty. He complained grievously of the
disrespeet shown to the Portuguese nation, as
well in the stipulation, that persons should not be
held amenable for their conduct during the recent
usurpation, as because no reference whatever was
made to tbe junta of Oporto, or to any other legis-
lative body. To tbis Sir Hew replied, tbat tbe
convention was in all its parts a military treaty, in
which no mentíon was or could be made eitber of
the Portuguese or of tbe British government; and
he further reminded Freire, that in point of faet no
government of Portugal existed. Tbe junta of
Oporto had, indeed, assumed to itself a superiority
over other juntas, and it had been, to a certain
extent, obeyed by the people of Portugal; but if
any legitimate government existed anywhere, it
must be sought for in the regeney whieh the
Prinee had appoirtted; and he took it for gTanted
that General Freire would not aeknowledge it,
adulterated as it was with Frenehmen and French
agents. He nevertheless requested tbat General

PENINSULAR WAR. '163

Freire would commit to writing all the observa-
tions which he might desire to make on the treaty
in question; and he pledged himself that the ut-
most attention would be paid to them, when the
terms of the treaty were in process of execution ..

This difficu1ty had scarcely be en got over, when
other and no less serious objections to the conven-
tion were started by the leaders of the two S pa-
nish and Portuguese corps, which at this time
blockaded the fortresses of Elvas and Almeida.
Elvas had long been kept in a state of irregular
investment by bands of armed peasants, whose
utmost exertions never went further than to poison
a well or two, where the cattle of the garrison were
accustomed to drink, and to cut off straggling par-
ties, as often as they issued from the town. Be-
fore Elvas, again, the Spanish General Galluza,
provisi<mal commandant of the army of Estrema-
dura, had seen fit to sit down; in ignorance, per-
haps, that a treaty was going on at the moment
for its surrender; but in positive contempt of or-
ders from his own superiors, which required him
to begin his march, without delay, for Castile.
The Portuguese, though, like their comrades
nearer to the capital, far from being satisfied with
the tone of the convention, were easily persuaded
to subdue their own feelings; and Almeida being
given up, the French garrison was quietly marched
under a British eseort, to Oporto. It was not

164 NAltRATIVE OE' THE

so at Elvas. When a British regiment which had
been appointed to take charge of the works ar-
rived in his camp, General Galluza positively re-
fused to permit its passing further. He insisted
that the Spanish corps under his command was
entitled to, all the privileges of a besieging army;
and he protested that the Freneh garrison should
Rot pass the ditch on any other terms, than as
prisoners of war prepared to lay down their arms.
Neither Colonel Ross, the commissioner, nor the
battalion which aUended him, coulel, of course,
compel an alteration in Galluza's sentiments; but
advice was instantly despatched to Sir Hew Dal-
rymple, who was justly incensed; and at first
declared his determination to withhold all suc-
cours from the Spaniards, and to cease aH corres-
pondence with them, if his wishes, in the present
mstance" w;ere not promptly attended to; but
being reasoned out of this resolution, Sir Hew con- '
sented that Colonel Graham should repair to EI-
vas, with fuIl powers to, coneiliate the Spanish
General. The Colonel, was, moreover, furnished
with 10,000 dollars, as a means of eaforcing his
arguments, should they be violently opposed ; and
as a last resource, he was required to proceed to
Madrid, and to lay before the Spanish government
a statement of the case. AH this was as it ought to
have been; but Sir Hew's feelings were too VIO-
lently, excited to permit him to stop here. Sir

PENINSULAR WAR. 165

John Hope's division of infantry, with two squa-
drons of cavalry, were ordered to cross the Tagus.
He was directed to move, in a rnenacing attitude,
upon Elvas; and in case things carne to the worst,
to compel, by force of arms, an adherence to the
terms of the treaty. Fortunately, for all parties;
this species of interference was not needed. The
Spaniards, convinced by Colonel Graham's weigh-
ty arguments, that no good, hut rnuch evil, must
arise, out of a breach of any compact, however
rashly or improvidently entered into, at last con- ,
sented to a:How thedeparture of the garrison with
its arms and baggage; and' the garrison accord-
ingly proceeded, as the garrison of Almeida had
done, undel' a British escort, to its place of em-
barkation.

It may not be amiss ifI recordhere the fate which
uItimately befell these detachmeúts. Wherever
they passed, on their journey from the Jorts to the
place of embarkation, they were met with the
revilings and hootings of an enraged peasantry;
nor was it without the utmost difficulty that they
were preserved from fue violence with which they
were threatened. By great exertions, however,
on the part of the escort, they were at length con~
ducted to their vessels; but the troops from AI-
meida, ordered to take shipping at Oporto, had
not yet weighed anchor, when an accident occurred,
which had well nigh pro ved fatal to them. In

166 N ARRA TIVE Ol!' TI-lE

moving a military chest on board one·of the trans·
ports, it fell to the ground, and búrsting open,
sorne church.plate rolled out. There was now no
arresting the fury of the populace. The ships
were instantly boarded, the French disarmed, theír
baggage taken on shore, examined, and plundered;
and when it became apparent that, under the head
of prívate property, the pillage of the most sacred
edifices in the kingdom was about to be conveyed
away, the lives of the whole detachment were
placed in irnrninent danger. At last, however, the
native authorities, aided by such British officers as
happened to be at hand, prevailed upon the people
to abstain from personal violence; but to tal k any
longer of the safe departure of these detachments,
would have been useless. They were disarmed,
to the number of fourteen hundred, and treated as.
prisoners of war.

In the mean while, one division of the British
army, under the command of Lieutenant-general
Sir John Rope, moved into Lisbon, and took pos-
session oí the different barracks, and of the castle.
Shouts and blessings greeted them as they passed
along; whilst persons of every rank, from the
fidalgo down to the beggar, vied with one another
in protestations of gratitude and affection. The
windows were filled with females, who showered
down flowers upon the soldiers' heads, and waved
their handkerchiefs in token oí amity; whilst the

PEN1NSULAR W AR. 167

men thronged the sides of the streets, and made
the air ring with their cries, "Long live the Eng-
lish!" "Death to the FreÍlch!" But the most
gratifying spectade of aH, whic.h met us on the
present occasion, was exhibited on the following
morning; when to the Spanish corps, which had
hitherto be en detained' as prisoners in the hulks,
not their liberty only. but their arms and accou-
trements were restored.

To render the ceremony as imposing as pos-
sible, it was determined that' it should take place
in public, and announcements of what was about
to be done were everywhere circulated. Great
crowds were accordingly drawn together on the
morning appointed, when the Spaniards, in num-
ber about four thousand, assembled in a large
open spa.ce· called the Campo d 'Ourique, and
forming a hollow square, with their generals and
other officers in the centre, awaited the result.·
They were not kept long in suspense, ere General
Beresford, to whom the arrangement of the cere-
mony had been intrusted, followed by a large con-
course of Britishofficers, made his appearance.
Instantly General Beresford, having passed along
the line, and saluted first the General and after-
wards the whole corps, presented to the former,
with gr-eat grace and dignity an elegant sword,
and in an animated speech requested that the
latter would again accept their arms from the

168 NAltRATlVf: OF THE

King of England, never to lay them down till the
cause of Ferdinand VII., of Europe, and of hu-
manity, had triumphed. This address;which was
forcibly and well delivered, had not yet come to
a close, when it was drowned in the reiterated
vivas of soldiers and inhabitants; whilst the roar
of cannon, and the braying of trumpets, echoed
from oneend of Lisbon to another. When the
tumult had in part subsided, the Spanish General
hastened to make his reply. He spoke evidently
under the influence of strong feeling, and every
sentence which fell from him gave testimony, that
what he did speak, was spoken without premedi-
tation; buí his speech possessed all the fire which
the circumstances under which it was delivered
were calculated to excite. He then addressed his
men in the language of genuine patriotism; ex-
horted them never to forget the events of this
glorious day; ahd ended by declaring that, when-
ever the people of the Peninsula should cease to
bear towards England the love and reverence
which were due froID the oppressed to their de-
liverers, they would prove themselves unworthy
of a better fate than that which, but for English
interference, would have befaUen them. Finally,
the troopsmarched past, and the business of the
morning was concluded by a grand dijeúné a la

Jou,rchette, at which the Spanish officers became so
intoxicated with wine and joy, as to dance waltzes,

PEKI~SULAR "'AIt. 169

fandangos, &c. in their boots, swords, and com-
plete field-equipment.

The rejoicings having ended, it became a ques-
tion of considerable moment how these troops
were to be disposed of. Destitute as they were
of money, and of almost every article necessary to
their efficiency, it was quite evident that they
could proceed nowhere in a body, nor act to any
purpose, unless the means of moving and acting
were advanced from the funds of the British
army; and the Commander-in-chief seemed to
entertain serious doubts, whether his instructions
authorised him to make such advance. After a
good deal of discussion, however, he was at length
prevailed upon to &upply them with 20,000 dol-
lars, in addition to a certain number of days' pay,
and complete supplies oí arms, ammunition, and
hor~es; and then thequestion as to their ultimate
disposal was resumed. The first idea on that
head was, tbat it would be advisable to march
them off in the direction of Badajoz; because,
being composed principally of detachments froro
different regiments, O) which the main bodies
were understood to be in the neighbourhood of
that place, they might be enabled, when there, to
join each its respective battalion. Preparations
were accordingly begun with this view; but be-
fore they were completed, there arrived from
Catalonia two deputies, whose representations

170 NARRATIVE OF THE

caused an immediate change in the plans. These
strongly pressed upon Sir Hew the necessity of
sending troops of all arms, but more particularly
cavalry, into their province. They stated that
the Catalonian arrny amounted to forty thousand
men, which, though miserably supplied with
eq uiprnents of every kind, were, nevertheless,
able to cope with the enemy arnong the moun-
tains; but that in the plains and level country,
owing to the presence of five or six hundred
French cavalry, they could not venture to show
themselves. Under these circurnstances, they
besought the British General to send round by
sea a corps of one thousand horse and ten thou-
sand foot, the arriva! of which would, they were
assured, occasion· an immediate rising throughout
the whole province, particularly in Barcelona and
other large towns, where nothing but the presence
of an overwhelming force kept the people in sub-
jection to the French yoke. There was a good
deal of justice in the remarks of these deputies;
nor, perhaps, would it have been an unwise thing,
had Sir Hew Dalrymple obeyed their councils;
but to do this he hárdly felt himself authorised.
The Spanish corps, however, being absolutely at
his own disposal, he could employ it at any point,
and on any service, which to hirnself might ap-
pear most desirable; and he instanUy placed it in
the hands of theCatalonian deputies. It was

PENINSULAR W AIt. 171

embarked in a few hours afterwards, and set sail
for Catalonia.

AH this while arrangements were busily making
for the transportation of the Fre.nch troops to their
own country. Whilst the few garrisons which
they had scattered through the interior, received
instructions to march upon Oporto, the main body,
including the corps which had occupied the castle
of Lisbon, and the forts at tbe moutb of tbe Tagus,
assembled in one Gamp, and made ready to em-
bark as soon as tbe sbips were cleared out for
tbem. Much discussion, however, and many dif-
ficulties arose, as to the construction whích each
party desired to put upon those articles in the con-
vention of Cintra, which had reference to the pri-
vate baggage of the army. The Portuguese were
naturaIly anxious that the men who had plun-
dered their churches, museums, and even their
dweIlings, should not be permítted to carry away
that plunder under the head of prívate property;
whilst the French protested violently against any
search being made, or any inquiríes instituted into
the contents of their trunks or store-rooms. It
was no easy matter for the British General to steer
a proper course in such circumstances, keeping, as
he desired, a striet regard to the sacredness of his
own promises. On the one hand, he could not but
feel, that wbatever might, be the words of the

-172 NARRATIVE OF 'rHE

treaty, its spirit was not such as to sanction the
numerous acts of peculationand robbery of which
the French might have been guilty; and he took
care to state this with great distinctness to Mar-
shal J unot. On the other hand, he saw that in
many cases of alleged plunder it would be ex-
tremely difficult, if not utterly impossible, to iden-
tify the property said to have beeo stolen. Thus
embarrassed, he took the only judicious step which
it was in his power to take. A committee of ill-
quiry was appointed, before which all claims might
be brought; and the quantity of goods restored
by its decisions to the rightful owners was im-
mense.

Before dismissing the subject of Cintra alto-
gether, 1 consider it right, without at all desiring
to discuss the wisdom or impolicy of the arrange-
ment in question, to lay before the readeran out-
line of the impression produced in England by the
first intelligence of the convention, which was
communicated to me in the following extraet of a
letter :-

" The tumult of our joy on Wellesley's glorious
eonduct and successes has been cruelIy disturbed
by a communication of a supposed conventioo, the
operations of which instrument would, if carried
iato effect, secure to the French advantages be-
yond their reach, under the most brilliant success;

PENINSULAR WAR. 173

whilst their ten thousand men are now pressed
upon by. not less than thirty to forty thousand
men, British and Portuguese.

"In the first place, it is a .recognition, on the
face of the instrument, of Buonaparte as emperor
of the French.

"2ndly. It provides for the safe' retreat of an
enemy's corps, destitute of all other means of
escape.

o< 3rdly. It give.s France the entire. grace of
saving for Russia her Heet, whilst in truth she had
not a remnant of power left to pratect it.

"4thly. It makes a gratuitous sacrifice oí the
Heet of an enemy, and in the manner of doing it,
recognises rights of neutrality on the part of Por-
tugal towards Russia, which, if they could have
ever subsisted for a moment in a port occupied by
a French army, were destroyed, even in pretence,
by the formal appointment of J unot as Buona-
parte's Lieutenant of Portugal, andentails upon
us all the encumbrance of watching, witb a Heet,
a port of our own~ whilst we must give the enemy
forty-eight hours' start of us, lest we should catch
him.

"5thly. It gives France not only the immediate
use of her army, which, without an active assist-
ance, she could not have, but givesher also the
plunder of Portugal, under the mask of private
property.

174 NARRATIVE OF THE

" 6thly. Jt gives Franee all the graee of having
protected those Portuguese who have betrayed
their sovereign, whilst it entails upon us th~ dis-
graee of exposing our alIies to be attaeked here-
after by a fleet whieh Franee has had the authority
and means to proteet. Will Spain or Europe
believe that this was preceded by triumphs on our
part? and will not Franee be convineed of the
reverse?

"7thly. It lastly appears in its general result to
be a happy eontrivanee, by which England shall
have made a mighty effort, for no other purpose
than making a dependent state the protector of
one of its enemies, whilst it beeomes itself the in.,.
strument by which the other shall remove an arrny
from a position in which it is tost to one in which it
may recommenee ita operations with advantage."

At length the provisioning and storing of the
transports being complete, the Freneh army began
its embarkation. It took place in three divisions;
the first being protected by the two last, as they
again were covered by the British troops; and
before the middle oí September the whole had
c1eared the Tagus. The Russian fleet, likewise,
in accordance with the arrangernent entered into
between Sir Charles 'Cotton and Admiral Siniavin,
was taken possession of by the British navy; and
the seamen being sent baek to their own shores, the
ships were forthwith removed to England.They

PENINSULAR W.AR. 175

were conveyed thither, however, not as prizes, in
the strict sense of that term, but rather as a depo-
sit, the British government engaging to restore
them within six months after a. general pacifiea-
tion. Still it was a matter of no little moment to
render them for the time innoeuous ; and as Russia
already began to manifest symptoms of a desire to
break off her connexion with Franee, it would not,
perhaps, have been produetive of any additional
benefit, had they been absolutely and entirely
transferred to the English service.

176 NARHATIVE 0.1<' THL

CHAPTER VII.

Sir Hew Dalrymple is recalled, and Sir A rthur Wellesley re-
turns to EDgland on leave-Sir Rarry Burrard resigns' the
command to Sir John Moore-Preparations for an advance
into Spain-March through A lentejo-Villa Vicosa -March
to Elvas-Elvas, Badajoz-Difference of character between
the Spaniards and Portuguese-Colonel Lopez recei ves de-
spatches from Castanos-Merida-Its antiquities-State of
agriculture in its vicinity.

THE events which 1 have endeavo.ured to. reco.rd in
the last chapter were still in pro.gress, when a Ya-
riety o.f changes in the arrangement o.f the British
army to.o.k place, so.me o.f which were o.f the
greatest mo.ment. In the first place, Sir Hew
Dalrymple was recalled, and under circumstances
which sufficieI?-tIy implied that the co.untry was
no.t satisfied with the resuIt o.f the two. late victo.-
ries. Sir Arthur Wellesley, likewise, to. the sin-
cere regret o.f every Englishman in Po.rtugal,
departed upon leave o.f absence; and his example

PENINSULAR '" AR. 177

'was foJJowed by many other officers of all ranks.
The command accordingly devolved upon Sir
Harry Burrard; but to what use it would be
turned, no one appeared to know.. AH at on~e our
preparations and warlike declarations ceased:
there was no longer the fa¡ntest whisper of a move-
ment; and we gave ourselves up entirely, or at
least we appeared to give ourselves up, to the
amusements and dissipation of Lisboa.

A state of things such as this could not, how-
ever, be of long continv.ance. Rumours began
gradually to spread themselves, that Sir Harry's
sojourn with the army would be brief, and that,
as 500n as he saw fit to return to England, an
active campaign WQuld be opened. These ru-
mours werenot raised upon false grounds. Sir
Harry's constitution Was incapable of bearing up
against the fatigues and privations of active ser-
vice; he therefore applied for leave of absence.
and obtaiJ.?ed it; and the command then devolved
upon one, whom, next to Sir Arthur Wellesley.
the troops most respected and loved-Lieutenant-
general Sir J ohn Moore. It would be no easy
matter to describe, either the satisfaction which
all appeared to experience when these arrange-
ments became known, or the state of bustle and
activity which every department at once assumed.
An advance into Spain was now openly talkedof;

VOL. 1. 1II

178 N ARRATIVE OF TIiE

and everything seemed to imply that it would com-
menee ímmediately,

1 have stated, in one of the introductory chap-
ters, that assoon as intelligence of Dupont's cap-
ture reached Madrid, JoseplÍ made ready for a
hastyabandonment of his new capital. He had
enacted the part ~f royalty only two short days,
when he found it necessary to lay his power aside,
and to fall back from the stage on which he had
begun to perform it. The whole of the detach-
ments scattered through the northern and eastern
provinces were caBed in. Garrisons were, indeed,
thrown into some of the strong-holds, sufficiently
nJ.lmerous to man the works, and a post was here
and there established, merely for the purpose of
watching the Spaniards, and giving notice of their
movements; but the main body, amounting in
aH to about forty-five or fifty thousand men, con-
centrated in N avarre and Biscay. Here a position
was taken up, with the right resting upon Sto
Sebastian, the centre at Vittoria, and the left thrown
back as far as Pampluna; and here they seemed
disposed to await the arrival of those :ceinforce-
ments, which in great numbers were stated to be
moving through France.

Whilst the aboye was pretty accurately known
to be the disposition of the enemy, we were given
to understand that there were in arms, il} the As-

"PENINSULAR WAR. 179

turias and in Gallicia, sixty thousand Spaniards
undel' Blake and Romana. Two large armies,
independently of this, were stated to have formed ;
one, in the immediate front oC the French, the
other upon their left flank; at the head of the last
of which was Castanos. The very best spirit was
said to prevail inall quarters of Spain; every
Spaniard was, 01' was disposed tobe, a soldier;
there was therefore nothing to be apprehended by
US, let us enter the country when we might. It
was even asserted that, unless we made good
haste, there would be nothing left for us to effect;
since it seemed in the highest degree probable,
that before we should be able to arrive at the scene
of action, the French would be everywhere driven
across the Pyrenees. Such were the· cheering
communjcations which poured iti upon us, not
only 'from the Spaniards themselves, but from
sorne of our OWll functionaries; andit was with
hopes naturally elated to the highest pitch that
we looked forward to the prospect before uso

We were not left long in astate of uncertainty.
On the 6th of October, General Moore received an.
oflicial despatch, informing him that bis Majesty
had been graciously pleased to intrust him with
the chief command of an arrny, in tended to eo-
operate with the forces of S pain in the expulsion
of the French from the Peninsula. The army in
question was to consist of not less than forty

180 N ARRA TIVB OF THE

thousand men, namely, of thirty thousand in-
fantry, five thousand cavalry, and artillery and
engineers in proportion. Towards making up this
force, the army in Portugal was to furnish twenty
thousand men, including two regiments of cavalry,
the 18th, and King's German regiment of hussars;
whilst a corps of fifteen thousand men, under
Lieutenant-general Sir David Baird, was to em-
bark immediately at Falmouth for the harbour of
Corunna. Sir John Moore was further informed
that a scene of action had been already planned
out for him in the north of Spain, though it was
left to his own judgt11ent to name a point of ren-
dezvous on this side of it for the assembling of his
troops. He was likewise expressly enjoined to
move the cavalry by land; but his infantry and
artillery he might either despatch by sea, or
march across the country, as should to himself
appear most expediento Finally, he was in-
structed to pay to the feelings and prejudices of
his allies every attention; to preserve the strictest
discipline among his men; and to keep his divi-
sions, as fal' as might be practicable, together,
that they might act, at aU times, in one body, and
as a field army .. It was added that, from the
Spanish authorities and people, he might expect
the most friendly reception, and the l'eadiest com-
pliance with his wishes; whilst, in case of any
unlooked-for difficulties which it might be essen-

PENINSULAR W AR. 181

tial to remove, he was recommended to commu-
nicate directly both with the government at home,
and with the English minister resident at the 8eat
of the central junta.

Immediately on the receipt of this communica-
tion, Sir John Moore set himself actively and
seriously to prepare for a fuIl accomplishment of
the wishes of his government. After mature de-
liberation, he determined that it would not be
advisable to move any part of the army by sea,
but that the whole, infantry and artillery as well
as cavalry, should proceed by land. As, however,
the roads through Portugal were represented to
be extremely bad, and as no magazines or depots
of provisions had be en established, he resolved to
advance, not by one route, but by three; and to
unite his columns with that of Sir David Baird
at Salamanca. But to move beyond the frontiers
of Portugal, unprovided as we were with draft
cattle, and having no depots of any kind, was im-
possible. Though, therefore, the troops were put
in motion so early as the 13th, it was fully under-
stood that the campaign would not be opened
before November; and even then, from the aspect
of things immediately about us, from the inex-
perience of our own commissariat, and the supine-
ness of the Portuguese, it was extremely doubt-
fuI whether anything could be done to the purpose.

The hussar brigade, of which 1 was put in com-

182 ~ARRATlVE 01' TUE

mand, received instructions to assemble at Vill~
Vicosa, a- town distant twenty-eight leagues from
Lisbon, and consequently at no great distance
from the frontier. We began our march far this
purpose on the 18th of October, and taking it by
easy stages, arrived at our mustering place on the
24th. Here the information was communicated
to us, that whenever the moment of further ad-
vance should arrive, the whole army was to pro-
ceed in four columns; one under the command of
General Paget, by Elvas and Alcantara; one
under Beresford, by Coimbra and Almeida; one
under Frazer, by Abrantes and Almeida; and a
fourth under Hope, by Elvas, Badajoz, Merida,
Med'ellin, Truxillo, Almanza, Oropesa, and Tala-
vera de la Reyna,_ towa-rds Madrid. To the latter
column, which was to consist chiefiy-of artillery,
with four regiments of infantry to escort it, we
were attached.

In passing through the Alentejo, nothing oc-
curre€! to ourselves particularIy deserving of re-
cord. We found the country, indeed, in a state
of miserable destitu tion ;.~ flelds unsown, and ham-
lets ruined and deserted; whilst it was not with-
out great exer.tion~ and a serious waste of time,
that with all the previous arrangements which had
been entered into, we found it practicable to pro-
eure sufficient food either for men or horses; but
we met with no adventures, by the way, nor be-

PENINSULAR WAR • 183

. held any objects which had a peculiar claim upon
our attention. With such spectacles constantly
before the eye, it was impossible not to indulge in
a few idle surmises, as to what must have been the
fate ofthe French army, had it attempted to make
good its retreat in this direction. The French are,
unquestionably, a hardy and enduring race of
men; they exceJ, moreover, in the art of disco-
vering and bringing to account every morsel of
nutritious matter which may liein the direction of
their movements; but it appeared as if all their
ingenuity, and aJ] their patience, would have farled
in carrying thero safely through the Alentejo.
There was literally nothing left for them to con-
sume. But the difficulty of procuring subsistence
would not have been the only obstacle against
which they must have contended. The very
name of a Frenchman was, in that part of the