A new expedition in Spain was attended with better success. Taking
advantage of the absence of Napoleon in Austria, a considerable army
was landed, April 23, 1809, under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley,
who immediately drove Soult out of Portugal, and then made a rapid
move upon Madrid. King Joseph advanced with a considerable force under
the command of Marshal Victor; and on the 28th of July, attacked the
British and Spanish troops in a strong position at Talavera. The
contest was obstinate and sanguinary; and though the French did not
retreat, the advantage lay with the British. As this was almost the
first success which Britain experienced by land in the course of the
war, Sir Arthur Wellesley became the theme of universal praise, and he
was elevated to a peerage, under the title of Viscount Wellington of
Talavera. He was obliged immediately to fall back upon Portugal, where
he occupied a strong position near Santarem.
Early in 1810, Napoleon reinforced the army in Spain and gave orders
to Massena to ‘drive the British out of the Peninsula.’ Wellington
posted his troops on the heights of Busaco――eighty thousand in number,
including Portuguese――and there, on the 27th of September, was
attacked by an equal number of French. Both British and Portuguese
behaved well: the French were repulsed with great loss, and for the
first time in the war, conceived a respectful notion of the British
troops. Wellington now retired to the lines of Torres Vedras, causing
the whole country to be desolated as he went, for the purpose of
embarrassing the French. When Massena observed the strength of the
British position, he hesitated; and ultimately, in the spring of 1811,
performed a disastrous and harassing retreat into the Spanish
territory.
It now became an object of importance with Wellington to obtain
possession of the Spanish fortresses which had been seized by the
French. On the 22d of April, he reconnoitered Badajos, and soon after
laid siege to Almeida. Massena, advancing to raise the siege, was met
on fair terms at Fuentes d’Onoro, May 5, and repulsed. Almeida
consequently fell into the hands of the British. General Beresford, at
the head of another body of British forces, gained the bloody battle
of Albuera over Soult, and thereby protected the siege of Badajos,
which, however, was soon after abandoned. During the same season,
General Graham, in command of a third body of troops, gained the
battle of Barossa. At the end of a campaign, in which the French were
upon the whole unsuccessful, Wellington retired once more into
Portugal.