"No man can value more highly than I do the
honourable distinction which has been conferred upon
me--a distinction which it is in the power of the
representatives of a free people alone to bestow, and
which it is the peculiar advantage of the officers and
soldiers in the service of his majesty to have held out
to them as the object of their ambition, and to receive
as the reward of their services."
The opening allusion of the speaker to "contending opinions on other
matters," was intended to mark the sense of the house that Sir Arthur
Wellesley, at least, was free from blame as regarded recent transactions
in the Peninsula. That the government thought so also, and had at last
learned to appreciate the value of an officer whom they had so recently
trammelled, was evidenced by the appointment of Sir Arthur, on the 2nd
of April, to the command of the army in Portugal.
Towards the close of the previous year, complaint had been made, in the
House of Commons, of Sir Arthur holding the office of secretary for
Ireland while in the Peninsula. On the 14th of April, he resigned that
office, and on the 22nd, he arrived at Lisbon and assumed the command of
an army, disproportioned, indeed, to the service expected of it, and
still more to that which they afterwards achieved, but strong in its
confidence in a general who had never made a false step, or suffered a
defeat.
On the 12th of May, he carried Oporto by a _coup de main_. So complete
was the surprise, that Sir Arthur and his staff sat down to the dinner
which had been prepared for the French commander.
On the 28th July following, the battle of Talavera was fought, after
which (on the 26th August), Sir Arthur was raised to the peerage by the
titles of Baron Douro of Wellesley and Viscount Wellington of Talavera.
In the February following, he received the thanks of parliament for
Talavera, and a pension of £2000 per annum was voted to him and his two
next heirs male.
So inferior was the numerical force of his army to that of the enemy
that Lord Wellington found his operations must for some time be confined
to the defence of Portugal; and he, therefore, gave orders for the
fortification of the lines of Torres Vedras, by which the capital of the
country was covered. They extended from the sea to the Tagus, at a
point where the width of that river is such as to afford an adequate
protection.
It was characteristic of the mind of the man of whom we are writing,
that these works were planned and executed with a secrecy that baffled
the penetration of the enemy, and equally the suicidal curiosity of the
English newspapers.
Massena was now the general of the French army. Wellington, before
retiring within the lines, fought the action of Busaco (ten months after
the battle of Talavera), in which the French lost 5000 men, killed or
wounded, and as many more disabled. After this victory, the English
withdrew within the lines, to cover Lisbon. Massena took up a position
at Santaren, from whence he gradually retreated towards the frontiers,
several affairs occurring between his troops and the English, by whom he
was closely followed. At length, he crossed the frontier, and
Wellington's object was, thus far, attained. On the 26th of the same
month, he received the thanks of both houses of parliament for the
liberation of Portugal.
In the meanwhile, the army of Massena had been re-organized and
reinforced, and on the 3rd of May he again attacked the allied British
and Portuguese forces, for the purpose of relieving the fortress of
Almeida, which was under blockade. The action was fought at Fuentes
D'Onoro, and resulted in the defeat of the French. Massena was then
superseded, and Marmont appointed in his place.
The next object of the British commander was to take Badajoz and Ciudad
Rodrigo. The latter was stormed on the 19th January, and the former on
the 9th of April. For both, the thanks of parliament were voted; and
Lord Wellington, after having been created Conde de Vimeiro in Portugal,
and Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo in Spain, was raised to an earldom (of
Wellington) at home, with another vote of 2000 l. per annum to maintain
the title.
On the 22nd of July, Marmont's army, which had been strongly reinforced,
attacked the allies near Salamanca. The two armies had been watching
each other for a considerable time, waiting for the favourable moment to
attack. At length Marmont began, and having superior numbers, extended
his left for the purpose of turning the British right. Wellington, when
informed of this by one of his staff, was seated on the ground eating
some cold beef; suddenly starting up, he exclaimed, "Marmont's good
genius has forsaken him." He immediately attacked the French where they
had weakened their line, and overthrew them from left to right. The loss
of the enemy was severe, and Marmont himself lost an arm in the battle.
On the 12th of August following, Lord Wellington entered Madrid, and was
appointed generalissimo of the Spanish armies--a troublesome honour
which there was some difficulty in inducing him to accept. He was
created a marquis at home, thanks were voted to him for the battle of
Salamanca, and he received a grant of 100,000 l. to purchase land. He
was also in December of the same year made Duque da Vittoria in
Portugal.
In the meantime, the enormous force which had been brought together by
the French, the refusal of the Spanish generals to co-operate, the
failure of an attempt to capture the fortress of Burgos, and other
causes, compelled the allies to retreat to Ciudad Rodrigo, with the
determination of returning to Spain at a more fitting time. This retreat
was conducted in the most admirable manner, and closed the campaign of
1812.
The foregoing is necessarily a most meagre outline of events, on which
volumes have been written. Those who may be anxious to read the Duke of
Wellington's own account of the military operations, will find in the
public despatches his annual summaries: for 1809, in despatch No. 343;
for 1810, No. 504; and for 1811, No. 615. For 1812 there is no such
summary.
It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the difficulties with
which the Duke of Wellington had to contend during these the three first
years of his service in Spain, were confined to the making of military
dispositions and the winning of battles. Other causes there were,
operating as a drawback at every forward step, and obstacles sufficient
to have wearied a less stout heart or a less determined spirit. To
oppose to a skillful and veteran enemy he had but an inadequate force,
most scantily supplied with provisions, and even with money. The French
generals, restrained by no principle of honour or even of policy, were
accustomed to plunder mercilessly for the subsistence of their troops:
the English commander would take nothing from the people but what was
paid for on the spot in money or in bills on the English government.
Yet, such was the apathy (or worse) of the Portuguese authorities, that
even on these terms provisions were not forthcoming; and important
operations were constantly delayed or frustrated by the want of the
necessary subsistence for the troops.
The reader of the Duke's despatches will glean much of his character
from the letters written from time to time to these persons; and,
scattered through the extracts which form a part of this volume, will be
found characters of both Spaniards and Portuguese, (that is to say in
the civil service) that are not very flattering to the national vanity.
Well may he say, in a letter to Mr. Villiers on the 25th of May 1811,
"No man can appreciate better than yourself the difficulties with which
I have had to contend; but I believe you are not aware of all of them. I
persevered in the system which I thought best, notwithstanding that it
was the opinion of every British officer in the country that I ought to
embark the army; while, on the other hand, the Portuguese civil
authorities contended that the war ought to be maintained on the
frontier, for which they wanted not only physical force, but the means
of providing for the force which they could produce in the field. I
believe that nothing but _something worse than firmness could have
carried me through_ the nine months' discussion with these contending
opinions. To this add that people in England were changing their
opinions almost with the wind, and you will see that I had not much to
look to, excepting myself."
Nothing could be more ignoble than the conduct of the people of Lisbon
as to the billeting of the very soldiers who had saved them from the
enemy. On one occasion the Duke writes to order his wine, &c. to be
removed from the house of a Signor Bandeira, and to have a house taken
for him, "in order," he says, "to mortify the people of Lisbon a little
as to their conduct about billets. I am slaving like a negro for them: I
have saved the people, in Lisbon particularly, from the enemy, and I
take nothing from them, while they continually torment me with their
frivolous complaints on subjects on which they ought to have no feeling.
* * I shall not be sorry if the government and principal people of
Lisbon know the reason why I take this house; viz., that I will not lay
myself under obligation to any of them." Strong language this, from a
man of the Duke's impassible temperament. But unfortunately there was
too much reason for this, and indeed, for much more animadversion on
more serious subjects, as regards many of the chief men of the
Peninsula.
Nor were these the only annoyances he had to submit to. In the early
part of his service in the Peninsula, before he had by his brilliant
deeds utterly silenced for the present and the future the cavillings of
the envious, he was subjected to repeated attacks in Parliament, to
predictions of failure--to everything in short that was calculated to
dispirit him and his army. The government, too, seemed hardly to have
"backed him up" as they might have done, either with respect to the
force at his command, or their approval of his plans.
Nor were these attacks confined to parliament. On the 2nd January, 1810,
writing to Mr. Villiers, he says: "You see the dash the Common Council
have made at me![1] I act with a sword hanging over me, which will fall
upon me, whatever may be the result of affairs here; but they may do
what they please,--I shall not give up the game here as long as it can
be played." Again, two months after, he refers to what has passed in
parliament about him, and observes, "that it does not give him one
moment's concern."
[Footnote 1: They had voted an address for an inquiry into his conduct.]
Throughout the dispatches and letters will be found very interesting
passages referring to all these difficulties in his path.
In May, 1819, the British again advanced into Spain, and on the 21st of
June completely defeated the French at Vittoria, for which the thanks of
parliament were voted on the 8th of July. What was felt in another
quarter will be seen by the following letter written by the Prince
Regent.
_To Field Marshal the Marquis of Wellington, K.G._